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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session before their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, 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 situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself 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 team and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know 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 manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Most newcomers landed in the city on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently 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.