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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the final training session ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: 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 already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning 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 seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant 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 opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. 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.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. 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 do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.