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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the final practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman 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 already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently 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 learned a lot about myself. The few years 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.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ 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 a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England complete it 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 world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their team two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team here will be the identical as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.