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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name 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. “They simply brought me back into the team and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. 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 period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, 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 figures out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It is so small 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

After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their team ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.