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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand inside. 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 one of the players, that is no concern.

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 players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, 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 England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize 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 Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their team ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.