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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final practice run ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights 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: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this new position 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 much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning 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. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years 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.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will follow later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.