BILLINGS ADMITS SCHEDULE CAN BE ‘PRETTY BRUTAL’

Sam Billings admits he hasn’t had time to stop and reflect on the magnitude of his global jet-setting cricket career.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who turns 26 next month, made his first appearances of the season for his home club this week after a whirlwind spell which has seen him tour Bangladesh, India and the West Indies with England’s white-ball squad.

He has also had stints in the Big Bash with Sydney Sixers, the Pakistan Super League with Islamabad United and the IPL with the Delhi Daredevils – all since the turn of the year.

Billings linked-up with Kent after a two-match ODI series against Ireland on home soil but despite his 69 from 65 balls, the Spitfires lost to Surrey at the Oval on in the middle. The conditions are obviously different to wherever I’ve played in the past six months – which is most places – so it’s about getting used to the pitches again.

“I think the time I batted (against Ireland at Lord’s) was the first I’d batted in an ODI here in nearly two years. It is different but it’s time in the middle, you can’t replace that.”

Billings joined an England fitness test at Loughborough this week before a threeday training camp in Spain.

He said: “It’s a great experience. I’m loving every minute. I haven’t really had time to sit on the sofa and think (about what I’ve done) and really take it all in. The Big Bash seems like years ago for me.

“I’m sure I’ll get a couple of days in Spain by the pool to just collect my thoughts and look forward to an exciting summer full of cricket in our own back yard.”

Billings said his gruelling schedule is demanding both physically and mentally, adding: “You must be doing something right if people want you but you have to look after yourself on and off the field.

“It’s a lot of cricket, the schedule is pretty brutal. It tests you mentally but it tests you more as a cricketer in terms of your capability and what you can do.

“If you can play in all those conditions and be successful, it means you offer a lot to every side around the world.

“That’s what I’m trying to be, as complete a cricketer as I can, all around the world.”

He added: “It’s just adapting and trying to keep improving, every time you play. At the end of the day, especially in these T20 competitions, it’s basically playing international cricket around the world anyway.

“The standard is that good and the crowds are that big, the intensity is there.”

‘I haven’t really had time to sit on the sofa and take it all in’