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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” 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 over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has seen Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period 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 offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Most newcomers arrived in the city on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result he will miss the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.