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England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on Wednesday to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run before their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

The Batter's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at No 7 in a T20 Blast game previously – at No 4. If England plan to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given something new to work out. 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 came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing 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.

Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: three players drop out, while four others join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’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 not in the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.