England finish one of the busiest years in Test cricket with a positive record of nine victories and eight defeats – what are the main questions they have to answer going into a potentially era-defining set of challenges in 2025?
Only India in 1978 have played more Tests in a calendar year than England have in 2024.
Following a 4-1 series defeat in India, they underwent a quietly radical reset, dispensing off James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Robinson, Ben Foakes and, to an extent, Jack Leach, in favour of new blood.
On the whole, the reset has been a positive one. They have since won three of their four series with their one defeat coming on particularly spin-friendly pitches in Pakistan that England's managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key, admits that they didn't forsee being prepared.
Since the start of the home summer, they have won eight and lost four Tests but the manner of those defeats – against sides no one would argue are among the best in the world – suggest that this remains a team that is still a work in progress.
What are the main questions facing England going into 2025, a year that sees them host India and tour Australia?
How does Bethell fit in the side?
England finished the home summer with what felt like their most settled top seven in a generation. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had become their most reliable opening pair since Strauss and Cook, Ollie Pope had struck three hundreds in the year at three and Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith had the makings of a powerhouse middle order.
Since then, the dynamic has shifted. Smith missed the New Zealand tour on paternity leave, initially providing the uncapped Jordan Cox an opportunity with the gloves. But when Cox fractured his right thumb on the eve of the series, it gave Bethell a surprise audition for the No. 3 role in a rejigged top seven that saw Pope take the gloves.
Bethell, still without a professional hundred to his name, enjoyed an excellent first series as a Test cricketer and immediately looked at home at this level. He finished the tour with a second innings half-century in each Test and at Wellington came four runs away from becoming England's youngest men's Test centurion since Denis Compton in 1938.
The seamlessness of his introduction poses an interesting question for 2025. When Smith returns next summer, England will have eight viable options with Test pedigree.
Do they run out of patience with Crawley, whose year ended with a poor tour of New Zealand where he fell to Matt Henry for less than 25 in all six innings? Or is it the vice-captain who makes way for Bethell, given that was the spot in which the newbie thrived? Or does Bethell have to bide his time on the sidelines for the moment? Or is Smith left to wait on the outside until a spot opens up?
How to balance the side with fitness questions over Stokes?
Just as Ben Stokes approached his best form with the ball in a number of years, bowling long spells in the mid-80s mph in New Zealand, the England captain limped off the field in Hamilton with a recurrence of the hamstring injury that ruled him out of four Tests earlier in the year.
Not since Stokes' first year as captain has he been a reliable frontline option with the ball. When he is able to bowl long spells, Stokes perfectly balances the side as both a top seven batter and frontline seamer. If Stokes is used either as a specialist batter, or even an all-rounder whose workload is limited, England are a weaker and less versatile outfit with the ball. And given the abundance of top seven options with the bat, it is highly unlikely that they drop two of the currently in vogue batters to accommodate a fifth bowling option as well as Stokes.
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said after the third day's play in Hamilton that Stokes' workload will have to be carefully managed going forward. How successfully that happens will go some way to defining how England fare next year.
Do England persevere with Bashir?
The selection of Bashir for the tour of India was, even by England's standards, extremely unconventional. But with just 10 first-class wickets to his name before his Test debut, Bashir was one of only a handful of England players to leave India with credit in the bank.
He was backed ahead of his Somerset teammate Jack Leach for the start of the home summer and again, Bashir repaid the extraordinary faith shown in him through his performances, most notably taking a fourth-innings five-for against West Indies at Trent Bridge.
Since then, his returns have fallen off dramatically. He had good moments in Pakistan but often lacked control. In New Zealand, the Black Caps were able to score freely against him without taking significant risk. Perhaps most damning, though, was his lack of threat. In the 10 Tests since Trent Bridge, Bashir averages 50 with the ball with an economy rate of 3.92 runs per over and a strike rate of 76.6. In all first-class cricket since the India series, he averages 51.
Will England persevere with Bashir or do they turn back to Leach or even roll the dice once more and deploy Rehan Ahmed as their lead spinner across conditions? Do they even consider fielding an all-seam attack? The answers to these questions are not as obvious as they were 10 Tests ago.
If they do continue to show faith in Bashir, England may have to get creative in finding game time for the 21-year-old given his second choice status for his county side.
Do England have a collapse issue?
Given the way England play, they are likely to record unusual results in the scorebook. There was effectively a 746-run turnaround between the Wellington and Christchurch Tests – this is a side whose highs and lows are extreme.
On occasion, though, they endure collapses so extreme that they undo almost a whole Test's worth of good work. In Hamilton, their first innings collapse of 9-5 effectively ended their prospect of sealing a whitewash in five whirlwind overs. It was the fifth time in 2024 that an England innings didn't last 40 overs. On recent form, you would almost expect England to endure two such collapses across a five-Test series. The team management talk about players needing the ability to both absorb and apply pressure depending on the match situation. There are arguably times when they are lacking the former.
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