The English Team Postpone Team Reveal for Latest T20 Match as Weather Compel Indoor Practice

The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the final practice run ahead of their third game against the Kiwis inside. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

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 peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, primarily as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” 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, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than opening.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

Banton said that “sometimes where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize 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 minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Shift in Location and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they work out if their preferred team for this match will be the identical as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the limited-overs team. Consequently he will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.