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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the final practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing 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 minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground 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 announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will arrive two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.