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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the final practice run before their third game against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players 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 starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, 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 long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, 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, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it 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 world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.