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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly 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 bilateral series 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 Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results 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 winter in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful 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 came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will follow later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.