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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the last practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests 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 kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, 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 the new captain's initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” 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.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize 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 small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the same as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.