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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this new position 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.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.