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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the last training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out 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 suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position 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 intend to keep 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.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back 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 passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Support 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 ability to put him at ease while he works 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 realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.