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The English side's preparations 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 training session before their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – 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 type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” 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, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team intend to retain him in this altered role he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. 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 seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.