England Delay Squad Reveal for Latest T20 Fixture as Conditions Compel Indoor Training

England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run ahead of their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose 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 New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton suddenly finds himself a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in New Zealand

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in New Zealand have seen one of each. In the opener, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Comeback and Growth

This tour has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. 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. “Baz approached me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, 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, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and perform.’”

Shift in Location and Squad Decisions

Following the initial matches of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest 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 same as the one that started both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: three players drop out, while four others join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Test match buildup means he will follow later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.