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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – 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 “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know 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 small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer 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.