James Rew: What do England do about Somerset batter?

A decision on Rew and the rest of the England squad will be influenced by the new selector, a role for which applications closed on Friday.

There is also still plenty of time for others to stake their claim – most counties have four more matches before the first Test, along with those two Lions games.

Crawley could find the form that keeps his place. If England decide to omit the Kent man and want a specialist opener as his replacement, then Durham pair Ben McKinney and Emilio Gay have started the season well. Asa Tribe is also opening for Glamorgan.

There could be two batting spots available in the Test squad, simply because England often pick a reserve to cover for the top seven. Elsewhere, there are questions over the spin and pace-bowling slots.

Shoaib Bashir had an awful winter, and is trying to move on with a new home and plenty of overs at Derbyshire. If England picked Bashir when he was not playing county cricket, would they then leave him out when he is?

If not Bashir, would England go back to Jack Leach, Liam Dawson, or even leg-spinner Mason Crane, whose only Test cap came more than eight years ago? Will Jacks is the incumbent, and other all-round options include Rehan Ahmed and James Coles.

England’s fast-bowling department is experiencing its most uncertain period for more than two decades, with James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and -most likely – Mark Wood out of the picture.

Brydon Carse has a broken wrist and Jofra Archer is at the Indian Premier League. Gus Atkinson has not played so far this season following the hamstring injury he suffered at the Ashes, but should be able to join Josh Tongue in the squad to take on New Zealand.

There could be two or three vacancies at the beginning of the series. Sonny Baker has a central contract and has made a superb start to the season, after a struggle when he made his England white-ball debuts last year.

England are keen to find a new-ball bowler to replace the retired Woakes. Matthew Fisher was called into the Ashes squad and Tom Lawes is highly rated, though both are in a Surrey team that has struggled to take wickets in the first two rounds of the Championship. Sam Cook played one Test last year, too small a sample size to make a judgement on the prolific Essex seamer.

And is it finally time for England to bury the hatchet with Ollie Robinson? Still only 32, he has 76 wickets at an average below 23. He has not played for England in more than a year.

Now Sussex captain, leading his team to two wins from two, many rate Robinson as the best new-ball bowler in the country. Can England afford to ignore him?