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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run before 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 a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before returning 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 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 couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new 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 seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” 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 small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned 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 one that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.