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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: 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 long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘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 opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the first, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz 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 realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.