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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run before their next match against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily 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 informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% 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 seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years 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 occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, 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, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup ahead of time 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 travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.