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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final training session before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

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 peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation 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 more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I got dropped 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

And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to 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 small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, 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 shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in the city on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.