The English Team Delay Squad Announcement for Upcoming T20 Fixture as Weather Compel Indoor Training
England's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were forced to conduct the last practice run before 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 gained – but on this instance, for at least a squad member, that is no concern.
Tom Banton's New Role: Starting Batsman to Lower Down
The cricketer says he is “continuing to develop”, and if it is the type of statement often repeated even by athletes who have already reached the peak of their sport, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a frontline hitter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a completely unfamiliar position, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “They simply brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘Your role will be in the middle order now.’”
Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, a further portion at No3 and the rest – but for seven balls at seventh spot in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at fourth place. If the team plan to keep him in this altered role he requires every possible opportunity to get used to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a lot harder than opening.”
Mixed Results in the Tour
The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it fails”, and the initial matches of the winter in the host nation have featured one of each. In the opener, he lasted a few deliveries and scored a low score before holing out to long-on; in the second, he played 12 deliveries, hit runs, and ended the innings not out.
Reflections on Comeback and Development
The current series has witnessed Banton return to the nation in which he first played for his country in late 2019. Since then, he drifted back out of the team, made a brief return in recently and then passed a long period in the sidelines before returning for Harry Brook’s initial match as England captain. “During the journey, 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 myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”
Support from Team Management
And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is grateful to have been offered a return, and also for Brendon McCullum’s ability to put him at ease while he figures out how best to grasp it. “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 only a small thing 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, ‘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 initial matches of the contest at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors complete it on the next day at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at 55m is among the shortest in the sport. With uncertain weather and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of announcing their lineup ahead of time while they work out if their ideal XI here will be the identical as the side that began both previous games.
Upcoming Changes for ODI Series
Next, they move to the coastal town and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed team: three players drop out, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in Auckland on Wednesday but the scheduling of the bowler's Ashes preparations means he will arrive two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, two seamers who are also building towards the longer format in the away series but are excluded from the white-ball squad. Consequently Archer will be absent for the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was racially abused on his sole prior visit, in 2019.