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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the last training session before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. It is not always obvious what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, 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 squad and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 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 seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “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 few years after I was left out 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 something new to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, 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.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.