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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

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

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players 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, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances 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 keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England 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 dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.