The English Team Postpone Team Reveal for Upcoming T20 Fixture as Conditions Compel Indoor Training
England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session ahead of their third game against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.
Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down
Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”
Before his recall in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at fourth place. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”
Mixed Results in New Zealand
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 first, he lasted nine balls and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.
Reflections on Comeback and Growth
The current series has seen Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, had a short comeback in recently and then passed a long period in the sidelines before coming back for the new captain's first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. Seems a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years period where I was working myself out.”
Backing from Team Management
And now, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful 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 grasp it. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it provides the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It is so minor but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can go out and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Squad Decisions
Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the straight boundary at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of revealing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started both previous games.
Upcoming Changes for One-Day Matches
On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and shift attention to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: three players are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in 2019.