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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 chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, 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

The cricketer 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 sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, 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, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this new position he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, 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. Three of those players landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.