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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last training session before their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at third position 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 altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” 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 is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, 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 arrive later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.