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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand 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 one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton 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 case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team 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: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, 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 the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their team two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.