Punters can expect batting fireworks from young openers Tom Banton and Phil Salt

T20 Blast
Starts 7pm Thursday, Sky Sports Cricket

Global stars including AB de Villiers (Middlesex), Aaron Finch (Surrey) and Babar Azam (Somerset) have been signed up by counties for the T20 Blast but here are Racing Post Sport's five players to watch:

Tom Banton

The 20-year-old Somerset opener scored an eye-catching 69 in May's One-Day Cup final victory over Hampshire at Lord's and has the makings of a destructive Twenty20 batsman.

The England Under-19 captain made only four appearances in the Blast last year but bet365 rate him 4-1 joint-second favourite behind Pakistan star Babar Azam to be Somerset's top runscorer in the competition this year.

Banton tops the averages for his side in the County Championship, scored two centuries and three fifties in 11 One-Day Cup innings, and could prove a big hit in his first full Blast campaign.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

The signing of South Africa great AB de Villiers should put plenty of bums on seats for Middlesex matches but AB isn't their only exciting overseas additions this season.

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman had a solid 50-over World Cup in England, with seven wickets in seven appearances and an excellent economy rate of 4.47 runs per over.

The 18-year-old was similarly miserly during last year's Blast spell with Hampshire, conceding only 7.09 runs per over – of the bowlers who sent down more than 30 overs in the tournament, only Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Max Waller and Danny Briggs had better economy rates.

Phil Salt

No Sussex player had a higher batting strike-rate than Phil Salt's 172 as the Sharks reached last year's T20 Blast final and the young opener has made quite a name for himself on the Twenty20 circuit.

He earned a contract with Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League and was called up to the England squad for May's T20 international against Pakistan.

Salt has a dazzling array of shots and if he can prolong his stays at the crease – he averaged only 14.7 balls per innings last season – then he should play some matchwinning innings for Sussex.

Ben Raine

Leicestershire's veteran Australian Mark Cosgrove hailed Ben Raine's century against Birmingham Bears last year as "the best T20 innings I've ever seen" and the 27-year-old Raine is relishing his return to boyhood county Durham.

He struck 113 off 46 balls against the Bears and finished the campaign with 332 runs, including 21 sixes, in 13 innings as well as ten wickets.

Raine has been in cracking form in the County Championship, taking 29 wickets in his last six games and scoring a crucial 78 not out against Worcestershire last time out, and he is a big part of a dangerous Durham T20 unit.

Nicholas Pooran

Yorkshire moved smartly to snap up Nicholas Pooran after his impressive World Cup performances for the West Indies and the hugely talented left-hander can provide the batting spark the White Rose county need.

Pooran, a 14-1 shot, ended up as the Windies' top tournament runscorer thanks to half-centuries against England and Afghanistan and a brilliant 118 in the defeat to Sri Lanka.

The 23-year-old already has vast Twenty20 experience after stints in the Caribbean, Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as an IPL campaign with Kings XI Punjab this year which included a blistering 48 off 26 balls against Bangalore.

T20 BLAST LOWDOWN

Competition format
The 18 counties are divided into two groups of nine – North and South – with the top four in each section qualifying for the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals progress to Finals Day at
Edgbaston where the semi-finals and final are played on one day.

Key dates
July 18-August 30 League stage September 4-7 Quarter-finals September 21 Finals Day

Last year’s final
Worcestershire (28-1) beat Sussex (8-1) by five wickets