10-0-44-0 – Joe Root’s figures in the fourth ODI against Australia. Not even five years ago they would have been totally unremarkable, par for the course. It was the kind of no-frills spell Tilikaratne Dilshan or Mohammad Hafeez used to rattle through at the beginning of an innings, forgotten as soon as the arm wheeled over for the final time, before the cap was collected from the umpire for the last time.

But these days, and especially in ODIs in England when Australia can rack up 310 and it immediately be seen as about 60 under par, those figures are something quite different and certainly harder to come by. Root bowled exceptionally well, even though he looked at no point likely to take a wicket, and though England do value penetration over parsimony these days, his steady off-breaks might just give a side already packed with pummelling power the chance to cram even more in.

It is also pertinent that both Stokes and Root have long-standing injury issues which might restrict how much they can bowl at times, at which point England might want the extra bowler, as they also might on excellent batting pitches, or ones which favour pace over spin.

It would also be harsh to any of those three bowlers who might make way. Willey’s left-arm action offers useful variety and he stemmed Australia’s late charge with a three-wicket over today, Wood topped 90 MPH again and again at Trent Bridge, seemingly approaching his best rhythm, and Plunkett has been England’s middle overs go-to man, able to strike when the ball is wearing – his bowling strike-rate of 30.4 is the best of any England bowler with more than 50 ODI wickets.

But if England have lacked anything in ODI cricket recently, it’s been the ability to win ugly, on pitches where you can’t simply hit through the line with abandon. Extending the batting line-up is one way to survive in those conditions, and Root’s run-of-the-mill spells might just be what allows them to do that.