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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 hold the final practice run before their next match against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. 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. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has seen Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” 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 period after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.