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England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines 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 happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me 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 manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.