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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the final training session before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer 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 game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team 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 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been given 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 works out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.