The English Team Postpone Team Announcement for Latest T20 Fixture as Conditions Force Inside Practice

The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in February led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session ahead of their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down

The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the squad and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”

Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, a further portion 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 keep him in this new position he needs every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Varied Performances in the Tour

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the winter in New Zealand have featured one of each. In the first, he lasted a few deliveries and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played a dozen balls, scored 29, and finished not out.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country 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 sidelines before returning for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from England was a difficult phase for me. I had a couple of years period 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 given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he works out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz 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 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 minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Squad Decisions

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing their team two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the one that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations implies he will arrive later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also building towards the Tests in the away series but are not in the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.