The English Team Postpone Squad Reveal for Latest Twenty20 Match as Conditions Force Indoor Practice
England's preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy Auckland, where they were compelled to hold the last practice run before their next match against New Zealand inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these two-team contests fulfill, what valuable insights could possibly be gained – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.
Tom Banton's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Lower Down
Tom Banton says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement regularly trotted out even by players who have already reached the peak of their game, in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team 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 starting batsman, a further portion at third position and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If England intend to keep him in this altered role he needs every possible opportunity to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”
Mixed Results in New Zealand
The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in the host nation have seen both outcomes. In the first, he lasted nine balls and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings not out.
Thoughts on Return and Development
This tour has witnessed Banton come back to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the side, had a short comeback in recently and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “On the flight over, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I started internationally. Seems a lot has happened in that period. I've discovered a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was finding my way.”
Backing from Team Management
And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful 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 seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and play your natural game.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it gives me the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the head coach and I can step up and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Team Selection
After playing the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with expansive playing area, England complete it on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue 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 same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.
Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches
On Friday, they travel to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith come in. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will follow 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 white-ball squad. As a result he will miss the opening game at the venue, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.
