England are preparing to finalise their first Test squad of the summer, with a host of county hopefuls waiting to find out if they have done enough to earn a call.
The senior management group of Rob Key, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes remained in place despite the regime hitting a new low over the course of their 4-1 Ashes defeat, but some changes on the field are impossible to avoid.
With Marcus North’s appointment as the new national selector set to be formalised, the panel will soon convene to make its picks to face New Zealand at Lord’s from June 4.
They have five rounds of the Rothesay County Championship to inform their decisions, albeit with McCullum yet to arrive in the country, and a handful of issues to wrestle with.
There is a clear vacancy at opener, where Zak Crawley has surely relinquished his fingertip grip on the shirt. A divisive cornerstone over the past four years, he has averaged just 19.50 in 10 innings for Kent in Division Two and has burned through whatever leeway he had left.
Durham’s Emilio Gay has made a compelling bid to take over, hitting three centuries and posting 552 runs at 92.00. Gay, who has previously represented Italy at international level, has done so from number three but has plenty of first-class experience at the top of the order.
James Rew was another touted for a move up the order but his decision to put himself in the shop window by opening in Somerset’s game against Glamorgan last week yielded scores of four and nought. That may have stalled his momentum but the 22-year-old is still a squad option as a versatile top-six player and wicketkeeping back-up to Jamie Smith.
Ben McKinney and Asa Tribe are among the other batting options who toured Australia with the Lions over the winter, but they may have to bide their time, while the hard-hitting Jordan Cox has not hit a ball this season as a reserve player with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
With James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes all retired there was a glaring lack of new-ball expertise on show Down Under, a matter the selectors must now resolve.
Captain Stokes made himself an unexpected and intriguing candidate by operating as a strike bowler for Durham on his domestic comeback against Worcestershire, and it is not impossible that the all-rounder is considering one last reboot.
But his fitness record in recent years is troubling and it may be hard to resist taking one experienced campaigner. Ollie Robinson boasts impressive Test numbers but questionable durability and has an uncertain relationship with McCullum and Stokes. At 32, it could be now or never for his second bite at the cherry.
Essex’s Sam Cook could have a smoother route back despite being discarded after a single Test outing against Zimbabwe last May. He has been a consistent performer for several years and 21 wickets at 20.66 apiece mark him out as the leading English candidate in the top flight this term.
Sonny Baker of Hampshire is a quicker change bowler who has responded admirably to difficult international debuts in both white-ball formats and could benefit from Brydon Carse’s injury absence.
When it comes to the spin issue, England are back to square one after losing faith in their gut pick, Shoaib Bashir, in Australia. Having found regular cricket at Derbyshire he could get the chance to resume his development on the job.
Challenges will come from the exciting Rehan Ahmed, whose batting has progressed more steadily than his leg-spin and who is currently warming the bench at Delhi Capitals, but the road may have run out on veterans Jack Leach and Liam Dawson.
The uncapped Liam Patterson-White, a title winner at Nottinghamshire last year, could now be at the front of the queue should they favour a steady left-armer.
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