ICP Young Gun – Philip Salt
‘So in awe of Sobers, I took his takeaway’
Philip Salt can be forgiven a moment of embarrassment after realising he had pinched Sir Garfield Sobers’ Indian takeaway as they talked cricket in a Barbadian restaurant.
He nurtured his love for the game while growing up in Barbados and recalls a night when – having been sent in to collect the family dinner – he ran into the legendary all-rounder and, overawed, accidentally walked out with the wrong meal.
Salt, 19, returned to find Sobers awaiting a second meal and the red-faced youngster was naturally apologetic.
Thankfully for Salt, he has been making no such mistakes recently. His 81 from 76 balls – in his second List A game – as part of a 125-run stand with Ross Taylor helped Sussex to a first Royal London Cup win of the season against Middlesex.
Of the mix-up with Sir Garry, he said: “I was so in awe of him. We were talking cricket and then when I left I picked up his takeaway instead of mine.
“My Dad looked in the bag and asked me whose takeaway I’d picked up. He couldn’t believe it when I told him it was Garry Sobers’, when I went back he was still there waiting for it to be remade.”
Salt, who relocated to Barbados from North Wales before boarding at Reed’s School, Surrey, believes that free-flowing Caribbean streak is an important facet of his game.
“To play an exciting brand of cricket is the culture in Barbados,” said Salt. “My dad Chris wasn’t a cricketer, but he got 67 not out in a game of cricket for North District Hospitals in Manchester once and he never stops going on about it.
“When I lived in North Wales, I got picked for North East Wales U11s, but it was only when I moved to Barbados that I played every day and my love for the game really took off.
“And it was when I came to boarding school in the UK – Reed’s School in Surrey – that I met my greatest influence, Keith Medlycott.
“He said the same sort of thing that Wrighty does – play with freedom, to enjoy myself.
“Sussex is such a great place to be for someone as young as me and I can just keep learning. Chris Nash and Wrighty are always talking to me about my batting and Ross Taylor always has sound advice for me.
“Luke has obviously played a lot of international cricket, Nashy has played loads of first-class cricket, while David Wiese and Chris Jordan are internationals.
“I played a one-day game at the end of last season and I felt good, but it was good to actually go out against Middlesex and get a few runs. It’s always good to have someone with Ross’s experience, and in the Sussex dressing room we’ve lots of other lads with a lot of experience, too.”
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday June 17 2016
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