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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the last practice run ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's New Role: From Opener to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher 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 New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period 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 Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive 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 white-ball squad. As a result Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.