Ollie Pope or Jacob Bethell?

That was the question being posed in the run-up to the opening Test of the England v India series at Headingley. It’s one which appears to have been answered – at least for the time being – by Pope’s century, coming on the heels of another ton against Zimbabwe last month.

A good case for – and against – each player could be built and will no doubt be revisited through the summer.

Arguing who is England’s best choice to bat number three is not confined to the five Tests against India – like every summer running up to an Ashes winter, much of the debate is made through the prism of who should be in the side down under.

It’s inevitable given we place most store on international cricket’s oldest battle, which has been running since 1877 and will soon be celebrating its 150th anniversary. And it risks devaluing what should be a fascinating series against India.

Focus on the Ashes winter is sharpened by England’s woeful record in Australia over the past three series – 13 games lost out of 15, the other two matches drawn. That’s against an even wider background of having only won five Ashes series out of 20 on foreign soil since the Second World War, underlining how difficult it is to win there.

So whatever highs and lows Pope – of Surrey and Lurgashall – and Bethell enjoy over the next six weeks against India, there’s no guarantee they will prove relevant when the first ball is bowled down under.

A look into the history books confirms this.

When England returned with an unlikely 1-1 draw from West Indies in April 1974, having spent much of the five-match series desperately hanging on only to pinch a narrow victory in Port of Spain, their plans for the winter ahead in Australia were as clear as mud. Yet they took advantage of playing India in a cold and damp early summer, winning all three matches handsomely, their batters cashing in against a weak seam attack which was barely medium pace and spinners – led by Bishan Bedi – who were desperately struggling to cope with the conditions.

Mike Denness – the captain – Dennis Amiss, John Edrich David Lloyd and Keith Fletcher all filled their boots liberally. But when they got out to Australia and found themselves up against the pace of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, those runs against India proved nigh on irrelevant. By the end of the following summer – again facing Australia – only Edrich remained on board.

You can go back even further, to 1958, when Peter May’s side – fresh from thumping a very modest New Zealand side 4-0 – headed to Australia being hailed as the strongest English side to leave these shores. They had won the previous three Ashes series, in 1953, 1954-55 and 1956, and contained many of the players who had been responsible.

Yet it turned into one of those tours on which just about everything which could go wrong did so, not least with key players getting injured and losing form.

But some of them had suddenly passed their sell by date as well and England will be hoping that next winter it’s the Australians, who have held the Ashes since 2017-18, who might be the ones to do that this time.

By Richard Spiller