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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the final training session before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

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

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed 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.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness 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. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance 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 for this match will be the same as the one that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players are omitted, while four others come in. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.