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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. 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 a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others come in. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.