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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session before their next match against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new 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 told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, 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 late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.