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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month 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. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad 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 opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team intend to keep him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

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 first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Growth

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. 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 two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he figures 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 someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, 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 Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.