England Delay Squad Announcement for Latest T20 Match as Conditions Force Inside Practice
England's training sessions for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month led them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were compelled to conduct the last training session before their next match against New Zealand indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – 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 type of statement often repeated even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new position, coming in at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the lower batting lineup now.’”
Prior to returning in June, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 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 retain him in this new position he requires every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a much tougher than opening.”
Varied Performances in the Tour
Banton said that “sometimes where it comes off and it looks great and other times where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made nine runs before getting out to long-on; in the next game, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.
Thoughts on Comeback and Development
This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in late 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's initial match as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I've discovered a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was working myself out.”
Support from Team Management
Currently, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize 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 small but for me it’s, ‘OK, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Team Selection
After playing the initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a multi-use rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their usual practice of revealing their team ahead of time while they work out if their preferred team here will be the identical as the side that started the earlier fixtures.
Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches
On Friday, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to ODIs, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others come in. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, flying with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.