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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the last practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

This tour has seen Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ 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 work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.