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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 New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run 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 gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

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 initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached 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 just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt 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 the bowler's Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.