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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last training session before their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at No 4. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached 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 just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the backing 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 backing from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.