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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

This tour has seen Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.