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England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to hold the last practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear 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.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he played a dozen balls, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Team Management

Currently, 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 make him comfortable while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up 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 expansive playing area, England complete it on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.