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The English side'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 conduct the last training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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

The cricketer 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 sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Development

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change 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 the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their team two days in advance while they determine if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result he will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.