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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session before their next match against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – 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 type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

The current series has seen Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, 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 skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground 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 lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team 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 ODIs, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.