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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run before their third game against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

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

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances 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 No 4. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

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 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 second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country 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 passed more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease 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 reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance 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 One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in the city on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, 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 Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.