The English Team Delay Squad Announcement for Latest Twenty20 Fixture as Conditions Force Inside Training
The English side's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final training session before their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these two-team contests serve, what useful lessons could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.
The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order
Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the peak of their sport, in his case it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at five or six. “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 the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s 162 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every chance to get used to it, and he has figured out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”
Mixed Results in the Tour
The player noted that “sometimes where it works well 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 opener, he faced nine balls and made nine runs before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.
Reflections on Return and Development
The current series has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in 2022 and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. 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 two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”
Support from Coaching Staff
Currently, he has been assigned something new to tackle. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It is so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Team Selection
After playing the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on the next day at the Auckland arena, a multi-use sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI for this match will be the identical as the one that started the earlier fixtures.
Upcoming Changes for ODI Series
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 come in. Three of those players landed in the city on the same day but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, two seamers who are also preparing for the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the limited-overs team. As a result he will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his sole prior visit, in 2019.