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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” 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 was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is grateful 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 seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will arrive later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.