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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last practice run before their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, 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 “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances 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 T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred 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 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 offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he works 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 reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in the city on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.