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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.