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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the last training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: 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 players who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation 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 told, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast 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 a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz 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 realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following 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 the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team here will be the same as the one that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.