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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” 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 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 eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed 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

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize 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 go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the one that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.