England’s Phil Salt meeting Matthew Mott’s expectations with maiden hundred
- Seb Sternik
- 18 June 2022
The glitz and glamour of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone carried England to a record-breaking win over the Netherlands, but it was Phil Salt who laid the solid foundations for the near-500 total.
England demolished their Dutch counterparts in the first of three one-day internationals after scoring a world record 498 runs.
However, things could've gone differently had Salt gone into his shell following the early dismissal of Jason Roy.
Instead, the player put on his best international performance to date as his eye-catching drives and self-assured sixes sealed his maiden England hundred.
Considering he has been around the England white-ball set-up for the last three years, Salt is no stranger to Eoin Morgan's attack-minded philosophy and suspects new head coach Mott is singing from the same hymn sheet.
"He certainly likes the way that I play," Salt said of the Australian. "I don't think anything is too dissimilar from the brand of cricket that we're going to play.
"It's pretty self-explanatory what you need to do if you want to play for England. If you want to play for Morgs, you have to play a certain type of way and he's very clear with that.
That maiden ODI 💯 feeling!
— ICC (@ICC) June 17, 2022
Well played, Phil Salt 👏 #NEDvENG pic.twitter.com/qQ4BooipXz
"It's as simple as knowing that when I get the opportunity, I've got to perform and I've got to do well. That's how it's going to work if you want to have a long England career."
While his impressive innings might not be enough to dislodge the Roy-Bairstow axis, Salt admitted he is happy to bat anywhere in the top order as long as he remains in the starting line-up.
He said: "It's something I've been taken aback by, almost, in previous years, coming into the England squad: the skill level, the intensity. I'm a lot closer to that now than I was a couple of years ago.
"Every time you put on an England shirt is an honour, I want to keep doing that. If I can keep doing stuff like that and keep putting my name in the hat, hopefully I will give the selectors a headache.
"You can't bat everywhere, can you? I'd love to get as many games as possible for England. For me, it doesn't matter where. I'll always do the best I can to perform, put my hand up and win games for the side."
England take on the Netherlands in their second ODI on Sunday.
