Tom Banton has no regrets about putting his red-ball career on hold as he looks to cement a spot in England’s 50-over side ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Less than 18 months ago, Banton’s 371 for Somerset, their highest first-class score, led to suggestions he could be an all-format England batter, but he signed a white-ball only deal for the county in June.

Having broken back into the England one-day international and T20 set-ups under close friend Harry Brook and eager to explore the various franchise opportunities, Banton felt something had to give.

He told the Press Association: “With the schedule, if you’re playing county cricket in the English summer and there’s franchise stuff and playing for England, there’s not really ever a break.

“When I was at the Indian Premier League (this year), I decided to give red-ball cricket a break for a while. I’d been thinking about it for a while and it’s having the confidence to actually do it.

“I’m happy I’ve done it and it’s nice to try to be the best white-ball player I can be. I’m not saying no to red-ball cricket, if it happens at the right time for me to come back and play then we’ll see.

“I’m just trying to play as many games as I can for England and take up franchise opportunities. I’ll be very honest, your career doesn’t last forever and I want to try and make the most of that.

“I’ve also found it’s important to have your breaks as well, come back refreshed and get that training block in. With the amount of cricket you play, I found it hard to actually train and improve as a batter.”

Banton has been a mainstay in England’s T20 sides in the middle-order but has been on the fringes of the ODI team, only given his chance to open because of Jacob Bethell being sidelined with a knee injury.

He has responded with four consecutive 50-plus scores, registering his first international century last month, although he has twice been dismissed after reaching his half-century in England’s two tri-series defeats in Pakistan.

Like many of his team-mates, Banton does not have a wealth of 50-over experience with just 30 List A appearances and he accepts he is still learning on the job – just 12 months to go before the World Cup in southern Africa.

The 27-year-old said: “There’s only Joe (Root) and Adil (Rashid) who have had a good amount of games in 50-over cricket so we’re still learning. There’s so much time in the game, as an opener, you get lost and you forget a little bit so it’s a learning for me to keep batting.

“You’re always trying to score as many runs as possible and with an eye to the next World Cup, you want to get on that team-sheet as much as possible. But I’m not trying to think too far ahead.”

England are approaching must-win territory if they are to reach next Saturday’s tri-series final after Sri Lanka pulled off the second-highest ODI run-chase to stun Brook’s side in Rawalpindi.

They take on Pakistan in Lahore on Sunday but Banton added: “We had a really good English summer, beating India and Sri Lanka, so I don’t think there’s too much to worry about. We’re a team that bounces back pretty well.”