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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their next match against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, 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 type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting 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, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 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 previously – at fourth place. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times 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 a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Support 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 ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [Monday’s second T20] 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 provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team here will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.