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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last practice run before their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: 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 already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful 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 [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me 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 go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground 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 here will be the identical as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.