🔗 Share this article

England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the final practice run ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

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

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”

Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 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 domestic T20 game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to retain him in this altered role he needs every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has figured out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

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 initial matches of the tour in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to long-on; in the second, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have abandoned their usual practice of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to the coastal town and shift attention to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on the same day but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently he will miss the first match at the venue, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.