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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final training session ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, 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 frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If England plan to retain him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing 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 the coach's ability to put him at ease 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 reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.