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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run before 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 learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 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 previously – at No 4. If England plan to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return 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 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years 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

Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached 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 only a small thing someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it 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 world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.