For all the soul searching that has already begun in the wake of England’s Ashes annihilation, questioning as to how they might possibly turn up with a team capable of competing in four years’ time, it is worth remembering that their next assignment Down Under — (another) T20 World Cup — is a mere nine months away.
The fixtures for the tournament were released overnight: England will open their campaign against Afghanistan and are joined in their Super 12 group by New Zealand, their semi-final conquerors only four months ago, and defending champions Australia, as well as two as-yet undetermined qualifiers.
In the current climate, it would be unwise to talk of focus shifting back towards the white-ball game, the need for increased red-ball prioritisation at all levels now an indisputable cause celebre for anyone with even the remotest interest in the future of English Test cricket.
But, less than a week after they were bundled out of Hobart, the road back to Australia starts here, as England’s men return to action on the other side of the world, their five-match T20 series against West Indies getting underway in Barbados on Saturday night.
Or rather, an England men’s team return to action; for all the entity remains the same, the personnel are almost entirely changed.
The established multi-formatters — Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Butter (who may not be one for much longer) — are at home, as is Chris Silverwood, still in his post as head coach for now, with Paul Collingwood deputising.
Only Sam ‘Phileas Fogg’ Billings, the wicketkeeper drafted in for an unexpected debut in the Fifth Test after Buttler’s injury in the fourth, has made the trip straight from one tour to the other (via Sydney, Los Angeles and Miami) and he is unlikely to play in the opener at the Kensington Oval, having only arrived on Wednesday.
Still, given the close proximity of the next T20 World Cup to the last, there is no plan for a major overhaul and despite the absentees, England arrive in the Caribbean with a squad that has a familiar feel to it.
Eleven of the 16 were in the UAE for the World Cup in the autumn, either as squad members or travelling reserves, and all of the other five have been involved previously, though seamers David Payne and George Garton are yet to make their international debuts.
It would be easy to earmark this as an opportunity for fringe players to impress, but there were plenty of those in 2021, too, amid England’s rest-and-rotation policy, and only Liam Livingstone took full advantage.
The all-rounder bolted his way into Eoin Morgan’s World Cup plans but was alone in doing so on performances in an England shirt, Tymal Mills earning a direct recall for the tournament four years after his last cap off the back of a superb stint in the Hundred.
England’s faith in the potential of Tom Banton is clear from his selection despite a lean run, while Phil Salt, who spent six years living in Barbados as a child, has spoken this week of hoping to make the plane to Australia.
Both, though, will surely need Livingstone-esque runs of form between now and the autumn to shake up the existing order.
In fact, if there are places up for grabs, they may not be in this team at all: Saqib Mahmood and James Vince, in particular, know wickets and runs, respectively, here could pave the way for a return to the Caribbean in a rejigged Test squad next month.
