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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

This tour has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something 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.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while four others 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 Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.