The English Team Delay Team Reveal for Latest T20 Match as Weather Compel Inside Practice

The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final training session before their next match against New Zealand inside. It is not always obvious what role these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have already reached 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 totally new position, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many discussions,” he said. “They simply 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 remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this new position he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher 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 other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the tour in New Zealand have seen both outcomes. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Development

The current series has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut 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 the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that time. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been assigned something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches

Next, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: 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 the city on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means 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 excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.