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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new 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, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head 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 support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team here 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 team: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result he will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.