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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, 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 team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

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 scored a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years 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.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval 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 stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team here will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players landed in the city on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.