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The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to hold the last practice run before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, 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 “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the second, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then spent a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, 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 Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.