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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to hold the last training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the pinnacle 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 completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then spent a long period in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful 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 [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue 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 a short distance is among the most compact in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui 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 join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.