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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to hold the last training session before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and told, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team intend to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return 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 recently and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location 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 side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.