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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, 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 the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is 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

Following the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.