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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the last training session before their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: 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 athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘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 third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team intend 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 opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful 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. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. 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 Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.