It’s now less than a month until England next play a Test match, and while their last game in the format was more than two months ago, in a way, it feels like it’s barely been missed.

Certainly the various debates and talking points have stayed relevant through the early rounds of the County Championship and the now-postponed Indian Premier League, and with England’s squad for those two Tests due to be announced after the next round of first-class fixtures, now is a good time to take stock and to see what questions will be answered by the squad announcement and the team picked for the summer’s first Test.

What do England do with their IPL returnees?

The latter stages of IPL 2021 were originally set to keep England’s multi-format stars from playing in the New Zealand Tests, but with that tournament now cancelled for the time being, the likes of Jos Buttler and Sam Curran are back in the country and theoretically in contention. Whether England choose to call them up, or give them some well-earned rest and reward some other deserving players with game-time ahead of a gruelling six months, is another question.

How do England balance their Test and T20 targets?

This debate received keen inspection during England’s tour of Asia, with the rest and rotation policy seemingly favouring Eoin Morgan’s white-ball side. He has since said he doesn’t expect to have any of his multi-format players available this summer. England are likely to allow at least Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, neither of whom are likely to be first-choice in Tests, to miss red-ball action to be in the white-ball bubble. Whether the same goes for Sam Curran, well in with a shout in Test cricket in Ben Stokes’ absence, or Jos Buttler, who has an able deputy in Ben Foakes, is a different question.

How do England balance the side in Ben Stokes’ absence?

The Ben Stokes question is perhaps England’s most pressing, and if New Zealand weren’t favourites already, his absence due to a broken finger surely gives the Black Caps the other hand. England could choose to pick a back-up all-rounder as a stop-gap, go with four bowlers, as they often did in the pre-Stokes era, or play four quicks and leave out Jack Leach, undoubtedly England’s first-choice spinner, but a player with limited impact in the early English season, especially when Joe Root and Dan Lawrence could fill in with some capable part-time tweak.

The top-order conundrum

The top-order in England’s last home Test was Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, and those three are the favourites to do so again, despite each having struggled over the winter. Burns was dropped by the end of the tour, but has averaged 47 in the County Championship since. Sibley has arguably the most credit in the bank, but a broken finger has prevented him from pressing his case, though he will be back well in time for the New Zealand Tests. And Crawley dispelled a growing cloud of whispers over iffy form with a score of 90 in Kent’s most recent County Championship fixture.

While Adam Lyth and Sam Robson were early-season pretenders, the only feasible bolter is Gloucestershire’s James Bracey. He has been in and around the England camp, and impressed in an intra-squad warm-up last year. The right-hander is the leading run-scorer in the Bristol side’s fastly accelerating title charge. They have won five and drawn one so far, with Bracey averaging 53.11. He is surely the next in line, and will yet get more chances to suggest he could be more than that.

Which of England’s many, many seamers should get the nod?

Even before the return of Chris Woakes and Sam Curran, England’s was a problem of plenty in this department. If James Anderson and Stuart Broad are shoo-ins to take the new ball – and even that can’t be taken for granted these days – there are as many as seven fast bowlers vying for first-change. Apart from the aforementioned IPL duo, Jofra Archer is coming back strong from injury, Mark Wood and Olly Stone offer an extra dimension, and Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson continue to put up obscene county numbers.