Tom Banton and Matt Parkinson will be seeking England debuts when the T20I series against New Zealand continues in Nelson on Tuesday.
Banton’s Somerset team-mate Lewis Gregory and Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown made their England bows in Christchurch on Friday as the tourists won the opener by seven wickets.
Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood then debuted in Wellington on Sunday in a game New Zealand won by 21 runs amid some untidy England fielding to level the five-match series at 1-1.
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Somerset opener Banton – the second-highest run-scorer in the 2019 Vitality Blast – could partner Dawid Malan at the top of the order at Saxton Oval, with Jonny Bairstow possibly rested.
Meanwhile, Lancashire leg-spinner Parkinson – who bagged 21 wickets in this summer’s Blast – could replace or play alongside Adil Rashid as England look to return to winning ways.
Banton and Parkinson have been limited to warm-up action only on tour so far – Banton recording scores of six and 11 in two innings and Parkinson taking a wicket in England’s second practice game.
Gregory – who dismissed Colin de Grandhomme with his first ball in international cricket on Sunday – does not believe a brace of low scores will dent Banton’s confidence, saying: “I’m not sure there’s too much going on up top with Bants so I’m not sure he’s going to be too worried!
“I watched him in the nets the other day, he was striking it pretty well, so if that opportunity comes for him I’m sure he’ll take it. There’s no real ceiling on him – I’ve no doubt he will succeed at the highest level.”
“He hits the ball 360 [degrees], he’s not too worried about what’s coming at him and he’s inventive and powerful. This format is seriously suited towards him.”
Malan (39 off 29), Chris Jordan (36 off 19) and skipper Eoin Morgan (32 off 17) all struck the ball pretty well at Westpac Stadium over the weekend before becoming three of nine England batsmen to be caught down the ground – Rashid the anomaly as he was bowled by Daryl Mitchell.
England’s decision to attack the long, straight boundaries in Wellington as opposed to the shorter, square ones was noted after they were dismissed for 155 in 19.5 overs in reply to New Zealand’s 176-8.
But their slapdash fielding received most criticism with five chances going down – James Vince grassing two regulation catches as well as a difficult one and Malan and Sam Billings shelling one opportunity apiece.
“When you drop that amount of catches it’s not a great reflection on the performance and the levels of fielding that we aspire to,” said Morgan.
“There were a couple of catches that went in the sun which made it look a lot worse but as regards our standard catches, we expect more.
“I think it’s more of an attitude with such a short turnaround [between games] – the natural default of any player is to step back and not commit to a 50-50 chance or their mindset changes to go back in their shell.
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