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The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their third game against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

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

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” 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 the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than opening.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, 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 drifted back out of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, 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, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use 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 announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will arrive 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 be absent for the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.