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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, 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 kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at the middle order. “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 lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team 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: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me 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 head coach and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will arrive later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from 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 sole prior visit, in 2019.