Philip Salt

Former Surrey player Keith Medlycott briefly mentored him and recommended him to the Sussex academy. A first-team chance was slow to arrive, but when it did, Salt marked the occasion with a lively 22 featuring three fours and a six, facing bowlers including Reece Topley and Jamie Porter. His first-class debut followed a year later against a touring Pakistan side. Inconsistent form then pushed him back, and for a while most of his cricket came in the Sussex second XI.

His breakthrough with the senior Sussex side arrived in 2018, built largely on white-ball performances. In the 2019 T20 Blast he scored more runs than any other Sussex batter. That aggressive approach earned him contracts in overseas franchise competitions such as the BBL, PSL and CPL. England first called him up in 2019, yet his debut came two years later, when Covid-19 forced the selection of a new squad for a home ODI series against Pakistan. For some time afterwards he stayed on the edge of the national setup, sometimes drafted in to cover injuries. In 2021 he left Sussex for Lancashire.

In 2022 Salt struck 122 against the Netherlands for his maiden ODI century, one of three hundreds as England piled up 498 in 50 overs, the largest total ever made in List-A cricket. He was also named in the squad for that year's T20 World Cup and, after Dawid Malan was injured, played in the semi-final and the final of a tournament England went on to win. The Delhi Capitals secured him for INR 2 crore at the IPL auction.