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England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, 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 fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then passed more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. 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. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides 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 approval from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.