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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” 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 me. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.