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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the final training session before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has seen Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures 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 realize it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.