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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to hold the last training session before their third game against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

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

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at the middle order. “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 lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

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 winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings 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 November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. 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 Squad Decisions

After playing the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility 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 work out if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: three players are omitted, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will follow two days later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the Tests in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. 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 a few years back.