England Delay Team Announcement for Latest T20 Fixture as Weather Compel Inside Training
England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to hold the final training session before their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.
Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Lower Down
The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After forging his reputation as a frontline hitter, primarily as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, batting at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and told, ‘You’re going to bat in the middle order now.’”
Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 senior T20 innings had been as an opener, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game previously – at No 4. If England plan to keep him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”
Varied Performances in New Zealand
Banton said that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and on other occasions where it fails”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the first, he faced nine balls and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished not out.
Thoughts on Return and Development
The current series has witnessed Banton come back to the country in which he first played for his country in November 2019. After that, he drifted back out of the side, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the sidelines before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as England captain. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about me. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”
Backing from Coaching Staff
And now, he has been given something new to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he works out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Go out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” 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’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Team Selection
Following the first two games of the contest at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an new location they have dropped their recent habit of announcing 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 both previous games.
Squad Adjustments for ODI Series
On Friday, they move to the coastal town and shift attention to ODIs, with a slightly amended squad: 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 Auckland on the same day but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup implies he will follow two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will be absent for the opening game at the venue, the ground where he was racially abused on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.