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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session ahead of their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got 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 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 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 figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned 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 figures 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 liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to the coastal town and shift attention 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 Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.