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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run before their third game against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup 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 third position and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered 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 Team Management

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is 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

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention 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. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.