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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he requires 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 starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, 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 discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful 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 [Monday’s second T20] 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 someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.