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The English side's training sessions 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 forced to conduct the final practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% 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 retain him in this altered role he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is grateful 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 seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it 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 most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, travelling 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. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.