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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the last practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, 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 “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was weird,” 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 me. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the backing 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 do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their team 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 One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in the city on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.