Day 35: Looking forward to some great cricket

I would imagine that a tour of India would be a wonderful experience, the people the culture the sights. That will be different for England this time. There will not be the opportunity for the players to explore the country and, weeks inside a bubble can not be fun.

England, however, start without the expectation of causing India any problems. That does seem a bit unfair, but also works in England's favour. The pressure won't be there, which might help Jack Leach and Dom Bess just to go out there and bowl. England's openers will be looking for runs and with the return of Rory Burns might give England a bit more stability.

With Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer back in for the start of the Series, England also has not just potential match-winners but also actual match winners.

I have always been terrible of naming the side that will start in the first game, but I guess the most significant decision is who bats at three. Zak Crawley would most have likely slotted back in at first wicket down. It could be just the chance Dan Lawrence needs to prove his worth to the side with players rested, or about to come back. A more unconventional choice would be to bring back Moeen Ali in at three. It would give England the chance to play three spinners.

Ben Foakes makes his long-awaited return as wicketkeeper, and his abilities will be tested. Jos Buttler kept well in Sri Lanka and is expected to play a lot of cricket. Therefore, it makes sense for a safe pair of hands to take on the role while Buttler rests.

Where England might try and be clever is with the bowlers. It is unlikely that James Anderson and Stuart Broad will play any matches together, with the two rotating.

That means at some point Chris Woakes or Olly Stone will play. England like a player with real pace and Stone offers England the chance to give Archer a rest if they chose not to bring Mark Wood back later in the series.

I know it will be good to get things underway and for the course of the matches to make the 300 previous words look foolish.

The drip-feeding of players signed up to the Hundred has got me looking forward to watching the women's games. Every play participation seems to be players I have got a lot of time for. With my favourite players picked for various teams, it won't be easy to pick a team to support. However, I'm eating more Skips than usual.