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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he faced nine balls and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. 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

Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’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, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.