George Garton interview: All-rounder explains how he rediscovered his love for cricket with Warwickshire

Yet after one summer with Warwickshire, he’s already recovered something more important than that: A simple love for cricket.

For at least a couple of years, the latter was gone, an increasingly forgotten memory as Garton battled first the physical and the mental challenge of recovering from a blood clot on his lung, suffered just months after making his sole international appearance in a T20 international against the West Indies in January, 2022.

It took a calculated risk, a move from his home county of Sussex north to Edgbaston, to begin the revival.

“I am not going to lie. It took longer than a couple of days,” he says. “It probably took the whole of last season.

“There were some real low points but there were also some positives too.

“I would say I am still on the journey. But I am definitely a lot further along that journey than I was at the start of last year.”

Where that journey ends is still to be determined. Still aged just 28, Garton has every reason to believe the best years are ahead of him. During a candid chat at the Bears T20 launch party, the all-rounder reiterates his ambition to return to red ball cricket after more than two years away.

The overriding sense, however, is one of renewed hope, a belief the darkest days are behind him.

“I went from playing for England, playing in the IPL, to sort of nothing after my blood clot, really struggling and pushing for my place in a county team,” says Garton, who was initially diagnosed with long Covid in 2022 before, months later, the blood clot was discovered.

“That was quite hard, mentally, to go from such a high to such a low. That was where I was not enjoying it so much, putting too much pressure on myself.”

For a player who was subject to so much hype when, at the age of just 20, he was called up as cover for the Ashes tour, it has been a slow rebuild.

A left-arm seamer who has been clocked at over 90mph, his talent and potential have never been in question. The biggest battle, as is so often the case in cricket, has been in the mind. 

“The move to Warwickshire was really important, to find that love again,” he says. “To move away from my home, move away from the comfort of the south and Sussex, to challenge myself in a new environment.

“But also find that excitement to play, that excitement to train. I think that is the most important. 

“We are very lucky to play in front of big crowds in the Blast, The Hundred. But it is the stuff behind the scenes, in training, which matters most.

“Are you willing to put yourself in tricky positions, are you willing to challenge yourself, accept the failure and get better? That is where I think the love for the game comes from.” 

Garton says he feels “lucky” to call Edgbaston home and he has taken further steps this summer to make it even more like the latter.

Having spent much of his first season at the club commuting from the south coast and staying with friends, he now has a permanent base a short walk from the stadium.

Even more tellingly, he’s been around the squad since the very start of the season, travelling to away matches in the County Championship while steadily bowling up his workload in the nets as he eyes an eventual return to the game’s longer format.

That in itself is a significant revelation from a player who last played red ball cricket in April 2023 and who many observers might have assumed was now solely a white ball specialist.

“That is part of the reason I am up here so much,” he says. “I have been trying to bowl, get my workloads up, get my skills in red ball cricket as good as they can be. 

“I had a little blip last month, picking up a little niggle. I had been building up quite nicely to hopefully play a couple of twos games and lead into the red ball. 

“It is testament to Warwickshire allowing me to find my love of cricket again to get me wanting to play red ball. 

“I think we have seen the benefits it can have on players, on batters like Tom Banton, who went down a white ball route and realised the basics of cricket can stand you in good stead, regardless of the format. 

“It is definitely on the table and we will see later down the line. I have to get into the team and they are doing really well. There are no guarantees. I just think if I am fully fit and available for selection, I will put my hand up and try to win games.”

Garton continues: “I spoke to Westy (coach Ian Westwood) early on in the season and felt last year was a great introduction but I felt a little bit separated at times. 

“I felt for my development and to be offering the team as much as I could, it was important to be up here full-time.

“I pop back home occasionally to see family and friends but otherwise I am up here training, trying to get better.”

Garton heaps big praise on Westwood, who stepped up to replace Mark Robinson as head coach when the latter was axed in February. 

It was Robinson, who Garton has known since childhood, who played a pivotal role in convincing him Edgbaston was the right place to rebuild his career.

Yet despite the loss of his mentor, he did not think twice about agreeing a contract extension when it was offered earlier this year.

“It was a no-brainer for me,” he says. “I loved my time at Warwickshire last year, so for them to want me back is a nice feeling.”

“I have known Robbo since I was five. I did make a slightly dark joke with him that he signed me at Sussex and he left, then it has all happened again here. 

“I didn’t know if I was a bad omen for him, or he didn’t like me! We had a joke about that.

“But testament to the club too. Promoting Westy was a great idea. He has fitted in seamlessly. Everyone has loved it so far.”

The proof, as always, will be on the pitch. Garton’s chance to translate off-field improvements into performances has now arrived with the T20 Blast, which for the Bears begins at Nottinghamshire on Friday night, before a home fixture against Durham on Saturday.

It feels a big summer for both player and club. After some mixed displays personally in his first year, Garton is determined to play a more impactful role in a team which has won the North Group in each of the last three seasons, only to fall at the quarter-final hurdle on each occasion.

“I think we are a stronger proposition than last year,” says Garton. “Everyone looks at the quarter-finals. But the consistency to top the group three years in a row is remarkable. I don’t see any reason we can’t reach the quarter-finals again and then go one better.”

For now, Garton concedes it is a long time since he has entered a summer feeling this good.

“I have played as a pro for nine years now and I think you can get caught up in results and where do I want to be personally, all that kind of stuff,” he says, when asked about his aims for the coming months. 

“A few years ago, around my blood clot and stuff, I sort of re-evaluated my goals. 

“I always felt if I was fit and loving my cricket, the rest will take care of itself. The best years I have had, that has sort of happened. 

“If I am fit, playing and loving playing and actually enjoying the training and loving the failure of training, trying to get better, then I am in a great place.”