Through all the agonies of last summer’s trial by seam, Keaton Jennings’ approval ratings remained pretty high. Partly cushioned by the struggles of those around him – Alastair Cook, in a rotten run himself, became counsellor as much as partner – Jennings found a fair supply of succour elsewhere, not least in the protracted miseries of India’s own top-order.

“Looked at in isolation, it was a tough series!” he says cheerily, his speech defiantly full of exclamations. “Openers were averaging 18 or 19 going into that final Test… not that I’m making excuses! I know there are certain skills that I need to get better. I’ll go away, take a look at my game and try to get better. But at the same stage there were glimpses where I felt that I could compete… and it was great fun!”

He’s working on a few things of course. “Mainly foot movement and transferences of weight,” he says. “I’m never going to be a guy who massively moves my feet – when I look at a guy like Trescothick, I’d say there’s some similarities there in terms of weight transference, and then extending that into the way I play spin.” What he would give for a hard-earned 80-odd in Galle. “And suddenly that pressure seems so far away.”