George has Gart the pace to stun ’em all
WHEN you’ve lost every match of a white ball series as heavily as Sri Lanka have, talk about a secret weapon is probably the last thing the tourists want to hear.
But England new boy George Garton (above) could be exactly that.
Whistled up to prepare England’s batsman for an Aussie pace bombardment during the 2017/18 Ashes series Down Under, Garton has been on the national team radar for almost five years.
And now his Exocets – which have earned him comparisons with Mitchell Johnson – could about to be unleashed on both Sri Lanka and Pakistan before the month is out.
Garton has been in stunning form for his county in all formats so far this summer and has emerged as a bowler capable of hitting speeds in excess of 90mph in both red and white ball cricket.
Not bad for a 24-year-old who wasn’t even the quickest bowler at his school during his teenage years.
“I wasn’t the fastest bowler in the county by a long shot,” he says. “In fact, I might not have been the fastest in my own school.
“Until I was under-16s or under-17s I still had the keeper standing up to the wicket when I was bowling.
“I was medium pace, proper sweatband swingers. The keeper was up until my last year at school.
“My action has never changed, I must have just grown into it. I got a bit bigger and stronger and that’s when I started seeing a bit more pace and a few batsmen not being too happy that I was bowling at them in the nets.
“If we ever have the academy in and the lads ask questions, I always tell them to keep plugging away because you just don’t know when your body is going to develop fully and you can go from not being particularly good to being exceptional.
“It’s the same as a young batsman – one year you might not be able to hit it off the square and then you’ll be able to hit six sixes in an over.”
Clearing the boundary has been no issue for England’s batsman in either the T20 or the 50 over format against Sri Lanka so far this summer.
Taking wickets hasn’t posed too many issues either as Sri Lanka have been swept aside.
With a T20 World Cup around the corner and with their 50 over World Cup defence just over two years away, Garton will hope to force his way into England’s plans for both.
Just don’t call him the next Mitchell Johnson.
“During the Ashes I would watch Mitchell Johnson and my dad would always tell me to watch Wasim Akram,” he says.
“There were a few very good leftarmers around but I didn’t have one specific person that I tried to bowl like.
“I’m not a big one for cricketing heroes or sporting heroes really. I kind of like doing what I do and being the best version of myself rather than trying to emulate someone else.”