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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final training session before their next match against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, 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 type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad 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 starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, 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 grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides 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 head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive 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 white-ball squad. As a result he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.