🔗 Share this article

England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run before their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

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

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar position, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

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 late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I was left out from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head 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 backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England complete it on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather 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 here will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in the city on the same day but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.