'The more you play with the best, the better you become' - Sam Billings is relishing life at the top

As England’s T20 side prepare to take on India, Billings insists there's no limit to what he and his team mates can achieve on the main stage

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It’s indicative of the modern cricketer’s lot that when Independent Sport catches up with Sam Billings he’s in the departure lounge at Abu Dhabi airport.

Bleary-eyed after a 14-hour transfer from Sydney he still has some way to go before touching down in India to meet up with his team-mates for a one-day series that could see him cement his place in this England side.

The 25-year-old is gradually making a name for himself as a hired gun in Twenty20 cricket and, having played in the Big Bash, Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League, now has experience of playing against the world’s best players in some of the sport’s most competitive environments.

His 93 in England’s warm-up victory over India A in Mumbai on Tuesday has already thrust him into the spotlight before the opening match in Pune on Sunday.

That innings though was merely a continuation of his form in the Big Bash, where he looked as dangerous as any batsman in the Sydney Sixers side.

Billings was part of a large English contingent in a T20 competition that is arguably rivalling the IPL in terms of excitement and razzamatazz.

Little wonder then that the Kent-born batsman and occasional wicketkeeper is champing at the bit to show he’s worthy of a slot in an England side that, like him, is clearly going places.

“When the Big Bash started it was seen as a bit of a joke, a competition the players took pretty lightly,” he says. “Now it’s one of the most competitive leagues in the world but also still has that fun element to it.

“If the schedule allowed it would have been great to stay for the duration (of the competition).

Sam Billings and James Vince run out to bat during the 3rd One Day International match between Bangladesh and England at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in October, 2016 (Getty)

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out, though, that when you get an England call-up that takes priority over anything. That’s the way it is and the way it should be.

“Unfortunately with the scheduling as it is, it would have been perfect to finish the Big Bash and then go straight into the India series but such is life – I’m just spoiled for choice at the moment, it’s a good problem to have.”

It’s little wonder that he is a man in demand. Billings played alongside both Joe Root and Ben Stokes for the England under-19 side in a vintage crop that also included the likes of James Vince and Jos Buttler.

It has taken Billings slightly longer to graduate from the Class of 2009 than some of his contemporaries but there are certainly signs that he’s starting to make up for lost time.

Scores of 34, 41 and 62 in his last three innings for England’s 50-over side suggest that Billings is getting to grips with the demands of international cricket. His performances in the Big Bash this winter have merely continued his upward curve.

“The more you play at the highest level the most comfortable you become,” he says. “It’s the same in tournaments like the Big Bash and IPL - you can’t play in front of those crowds and alongside those kind of players without your game improving.

Billings in action for the Sydney Sixers during a Big Bash League match last month (Getty)

“I was playing at the Adelaide Oval on New Year’s Eve and it was a bit of a pinch yourself moment. There was a long break in play and I just had two minutes to soak it all up. I was just at the Bank End looking all around the ground – I was batting at a massive stadium completely packed with people enjoying their cricket. It was just phenomenal.

“It was probably the first time I’ve stood there on the cricket field and taken the time just to think, look and soak it up.

“Every summer when the T20 Blast fixtures come out we pencil in Surrey fixture at the Oval because we know they’ll be 23,000 people at the ground and the atmosphere will be electric.

“In the Big Bash every game is like that.”

There will be no shortage of atmosphere in India over the next two weeks as England look to maintain their startling improvement over the past 18 months.

Billings in training with the England squad during the tour of Bangladesh (Getty)

Billings has been a regular in England’s T20 side against New Zealand in June 2015 and his fifty in Chittagong to help seal an excellent one-day series win for Eoin Morgan’s men against Bangladesh back in October mean the Indian’s will be all too aware of his abilities in both short-forms of the game. He is, though, just one of a number of game changers that Morgan can increasingly rely on.

“It’s going to be a fantastic series but if you’re looking at our one-day set-up at the moment then our best is phenomenal,” he says. “We’re in as good a place as we’ve been for a long, long time.

“We got so close to winning in the T20 World Cup final. I don’t think there’s a limit to what this side can achieve.”