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Captain and talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes has to now miss out on the rest of the English summer, following a nasty hamstring tear earlier in the Hundred Competition, whilst playing for Northern Superchargers.
England have turned to vice-captain Ollie Pope to lead the side in their upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Having chosen not to call up a replacement, they now find themselves with the hard task of filling the void left by the all-rounder.
Stokes, able to bat at number six in the order and looking imperious as he appeared back to his best physically with the ball, was all set and in the middle of a superb return to the Test arena in the full all-rounder fashion.
With the 14-strong test squad announced at the start of August, there were two changes; Jordan Cox and Olly Stone coming in for Zak Crawley and Dillon Pennington.
The only likely matchday alteration to occur was Dan Lawrence stepping in to open the batting, replacing Crawley, following the news of a broken digit keeping him side-lined.
The question now for coach Brendan McCullum to ponder, with Stokes being the only all-rounder in the group, how do they fill the gaping hole?
If the brains trust of McCullum and Pope wish to bolster the batting then it all looks set for Cox to be given the nod.
Cox, fresh off the back of early season form for his new county Essex, combined with a superb last month in the Hundred tournament for Oval Invincibles, with an appendix operation shoehorned in between for good measure.
The 23-year-old would be slotting in at six, with Jamie Smith retaining the gloves at number seven.
This would leave England playing three fast bowlers alongside Shoaib Bashir, knowing they have the part-time spin of Root and Lawrence to assist.
If the call is to play the extra bowler, their options are four out of five from; Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Matthew Potts, and Olly Stone. The way it appears is a straight battle between the final three names mentioned, as Woakes and Atkinson are all-but-guaranteed to play.
If they do go this route, they could choose to bump up the wicket-keeper-batter Smith to number six, raising Woakes to seven, but this could prove a rather lengthy tail.
England do see the Surrey keeper as a player who could bat inside the top five further down the road in his career, they may decide to leave him at number seven to cut his teeth, considering his Test career is in its infancy, with just the three displays against the West Indies to his name.
The other alternative would be to bench Bashir, the young off-spinner that Stokes has heaped enormous praise upon and play the extra seamer, playing four of the fast bowlers listed above and using the spin options of Root and Lawrence more heavily than initially planned.
Ideally, England will want to keep Bashir in the side, given the belief that he could well be the key lynchpin for years ahead and the Ashes in Australia in 17 months’ time.
All options have their pro’s and con’s.
Playing the extra batter means England can carry on taking the game to the opposition, an approach they love, going hard at the ball knowing they have power to attack at number eight, before the bowlers have to come to the wicket.
This also carries its issue over the fitness of Mark Wood, their express-seamer that they wrap in cotton wool every chance they get.
Would they want to put that extra bowling mileage into his legs, when he will be coming back for a fifth and sixth spell, instead of at most a third and fourth when the extra fast bowler plays.
If they choose the extra bowler by which moving Smith up to six, England will not change their style, but, it may sit in the back of their minds that they are a clear batter light.
It is also worth remembering that with Lawrence opening the batting, a role he has never done in his nine-year career to date, he will have to learn one of the hardest skills in Cricket, facing the new ball, in the hardest arena of them all, Test Cricket.
Forming that partnership with Ben Duckett will be key and crucial to any success.
It is a shame for England that Stokes is such an enigma.
You can name on one hand the recent genuine all-rounders that they have had at their disposal and you could argue that only three have been able to make their mark and set a new bar each time; Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, and Stokes.
The closest alternate the the Test squad could turn to is Sam Curran, who is currently in stellar form off the back of a superb Hundred tournament, alongside Cox for the Invincibles. Having just been named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, taking 17 wickets, including a hat-trick, and scoring 201 in just six innings.
He has experienced Test cricket previously, playing 24 matches with his last appearance coming three years ago. What works against him though is given the burning desire by the England selectors for 90mph bowlers, his 80mph swing counts him out of consideration, and, with the bat at number six is probably a place or two too high.
With the 26-year-old left-armer having immense promise, he would not have let his side down if called upon, as many would have suggested he would, and, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that given he has been fed an exclusive diet of white-ball cricket for well over 12 months, choosing to wait until the second Test, given the Hundred’s conclusion and the return of the County Championship in the domestic calendar.
Perhaps the message has been sent for him to go back to his county, get a Dukes ball in hand and a few overs under his belt before slotting in the Test side.
The suggestion of turning to Curran would also prove popular given that Pope, the stand-in captain, has spent all his formative years and professional career by his side, both coming through the academy setup at Surrey together.
There were other options if England did decide to call up an all-rounder, with names being touted such as Somerset’s Lewis Gregory, Surrey’s Jordan Clark and Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard, but none of these necessarily fit the “BazBall” mode that is so engrained in those playing.
Whichever route England do decide to go for in in the first test, starting in Manchester on Wednesday, trying to fill the boots of Stokes is a formidable challenge and one that whoever takes on the mantle will face a mountain to climb from the start.
Challenges and setbacks can come at any point, and, with the Ashes 17 months away, is now realistically a good time to trial missing the master-in-chief? Time will tell.
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