England Postpone Team Reveal for Latest T20 Match as Weather Force Inside Practice
England's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their third game against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what role these two-team contests serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this instance, for at least one of the players, that is no concern.
The Batter's New Role: From Opener to Middle Order
The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, 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 certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and told, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”
Prior to returning in June, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the rest – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a domestic T20 game eight years ago – at No 4. If the team intend to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Playing down the order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”
Varied Performances in the Tour
Banton said that “sometimes 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 lasted nine balls and made a low score before holing out to the deep fielder; in the second, he faced 12 deliveries, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.
Reflections on Return and Growth
The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the side, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the wilderness before coming back for Harry Brook’s first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was strange,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that time. I’ve learned a lot about me. The few years after I got dropped from the national team was a tough time for me. I had a couple of years stretch where I was working myself out.”
Support from Coaching Staff
Currently, he has been assigned a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been given another chance, and also for Brendon McCullum’s skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “The coach came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It’s nice to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I know it’s just a brief comment someone says, but it gives me the support that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”
Shift in Location and Squad Decisions
Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a stadium with expansive playing area, England finish the series on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the straight boundary at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With uncertain weather and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their team ahead of time while they determine if their preferred team for this match will be the same as the one that began the earlier fixtures.
Squad Adjustments for One-Day Matches
On Friday, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended team: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players arrived in Auckland on Wednesday but the timing of Archer’s Ashes preparations implies he will follow later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also preparing for the longer format in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently he will miss the opening game at Bay Oval, the stadium where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in a few years back.