Brisbane Heat, the winners of second BBL edition have faced another setback even before the first match of BBL is played. The English attacking opener Tom Banton has pulled himself out of the league. He announced this news on Saturday. He stated the reason for this withdrawal as he was going through multiple Bio bubbles in past few months.
He has been part of all the tours that were played in England during the lockdown. He was part of all the limited tours against Ireland, Pakistan and West Indies. He then was part of the KKR camp for 2 month period. He is currently in South Africa as a reserve in the team.
He discussed this with his Heat coach and captain, after considering everything they finally decided to send Banton back to UK after South African tour ended. The coach Darren Lehmann said that we completely back him in this period. We always put family as first preference in the team and it is important for him to be with them for sometime.
Tom added that he was thankful to the coach and the captain Chris Lynn to back him during tough times. He said that he’ll always be thankful to the fans of Heat. He said that he’ll be back for sure in the next season and try to bring the trophy home.
Brisbane Heat will now be missing services of Tom Banton and AB De Villiers who pulled himself out of the league citing personal reasons. They also are currently facing various challenges as their key bowler Mujeeb Ur Rehman was tested positive for COVID-19 virus.
The Heat will play their first game on 11 December against the Melbourne Stars.
