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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “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 know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors 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 shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.