🔗 Share this article

England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. 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 five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Development

This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. 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 grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing 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, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.