🔗 Share this article

England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by athletes who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I was left out from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

Currently, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease 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 nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize 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 perform.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.