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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘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, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, travelling 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. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.