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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final training session before their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, 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, mostly as an opener, 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 squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast 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: “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 looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment 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, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in the city on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in 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.