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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights 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 Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, 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 grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently he will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.