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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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 already reached the peak 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 completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply 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 over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago 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 was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing 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 expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the one that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.