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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

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 sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – 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 new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off 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 one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact 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 determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.