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England's training sessions 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 compelled to hold the last training session before their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team 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 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. 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 perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice 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 began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer 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.