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The English side's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then passed more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. 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 period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. 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 seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go 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 a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the side that started both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations means 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 not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.