🔗 Share this article England Postpone Team Announcement for Upcoming T20 Fixture as Conditions Force Inside Training The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the last training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern. The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated 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, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really 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 the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.” Varied Performances in the Tour The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the first, he faced a few deliveries and scored nine runs before holing out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out. Reflections on Return and Growth The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed more than three years in the sidelines before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “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 learned a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time 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 given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and perform.’” Venue Change and Team Selection After playing the initial matches of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility 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 two days in advance while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the same as the one that started both previous games. Squad Adjustments for ODI Series Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.