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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek 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 indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, 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, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the first, 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, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful 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 grasp it. “Baz approached 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 only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.