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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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 long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” 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 June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher 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 doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he faced nine balls and made a low score before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country 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 passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support 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 put him at ease while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “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 only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, 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 dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players drop out, 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 arrive later, travelling 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. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.