BANTON CAN BE THE MIDDLE MAN

TOM BANTON claims breaking into England’s one-day World Cup-winning side is tougher than cracking any sporting elite.

Somerset’s big hitter has missed out, with scores of 11 and 15, in the Royal London one-day series with Ireland so far.

But today’s final leg of the trilogy at the Ageas Bowl gives the 21-year-old prospect another chance to make his mark in an unfamiliar

Barely 12 hours after the World Cup holders complete their one-day job against Ireland 240 miles away, England’s first Test against Pakistan opens in the bio-secure Old Trafford bubble tomorrow. James Anderson and Stuart Broad (right) will relish the chance to build on a double act which has already clocked up 1,090 Test wickets between them. All-rounder Woakes was relieved to discover the coffee machine was still there when he checked into the same hotel room, with a pitchside view, where he stayed last month.

And he admits England need to wake up and smell the coffee faster than they did against the West Indies after Joe Root’s men recovered from losing the first Test middle-order spot. England wrapped up the series by going 2-0 ahead on Saturday and Banton (below) said: “It’s probably the most difficult sports team in the world to break into at the moment – especially if you’re trying to get in ahead of Jason Roy and

Jonny Bairstow.

“All I can do is to score as many runs as possible and see where it takes me. I’m trying not to put myself under pressure because it’s taken me a few games to get used to it every time I’ve gone up a level. “When I first played for Somerset, I didn’t get above 40 in my first 10 innings – but then I got a hundred and I never looked back. “Hopefully that big score is not too far around the corner and I can kick on from there. It’s different – I’ve never batted at No.4 in my life and it does feel unnatural. But the tempo is something I’ll get used to the more I bat there.

“To play for England, I’m probably not going to be at the top of the order because the team is so strong there at the moment, but I’m trying to learn day by day and enjoy it.”