The English Team Postpone Team Reveal for Latest T20 Fixture as Conditions Force Indoor Practice

England's preparations for a warm, arid 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 hold the last practice run before their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by players who have already reached the pinnacle of their sport, in his case it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at third position and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to keep him in this new position he requires every chance 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.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the opener, he faced nine balls and scored nine runs before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Reflections on Comeback and Growth

The current series has seen Banton come back to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out 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. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from the national team was a difficult phase for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Backing from Coaching Staff

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 make him comfortable while he works out how best to grasp it. “The coach came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and perform.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their lineup ahead of time while they determine if their ideal XI here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Squad Adjustments for ODI Series

Next, they move to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Most newcomers arrived in Auckland on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow later, flying with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result Archer will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.