🔗 Share this article

The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years 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 working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “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 realize it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.