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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious 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.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar 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 informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If the team intend to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances 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 first two games of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning 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 happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, 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.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors 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 world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.