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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the last training session before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted 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 both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return 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 passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.