What to do about Rew? England's dilemma

He could get a dress rehearsal opening the batting for England Lions in two fixtures against South Africa A in May.

Further down the line, Rew may move up the order for Somerset if little brother Thomas takes the gloves after finishing his A-levels this summer. By that time, James could already be an England player.

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Re-jig the order

England's four, five and six of Joe Root, Harry Brook and captain Ben Stokes are locked in. Smith had a poor Ashes, but his early season form for Surrey suggests he will keep his England place.

If Rew were to come in and Smith remains at number seven, it raises the prospect of a county wicketkeeper in Rew not keeping for England while Smith, who does not keep for Surrey, takes the gloves in Test cricket.

A solution to this would be for Smith to do the job he currently does at The Oval - bat at three and not keep. He has benefitted from the switch at Surrey, where he is thought to have rediscovered a natural tempo to his batting.

Smith has often been tipped to push up the England order and play as a specialist batter. Such a move would open a space for Rew to keep and bat at seven for England.

The engine room is where Rew has most often found himself for Somerset - 10 of his 12 first-class hundreds have come at number six.

Close observers say Rew's keeping is competent, rather than spectacular, possibly hampered by some heavy footwork. England also like their number seven to be a dynamic batter, capable of counter-attacking alongside the tail. Rew has gears to his batting, just not as many as Smith.

The other part of this plan would involve moving Jacob Bethell to open the batting.

Bethell certainly has the talent, attributes and temperament to open, yet has only just found a home at number three with his stellar maiden century in the final Ashes Test in Sydney.

On the flip side, Bethell plays so little first-class cricket aside from for England - one match for Warwickshire since August 2024 - it can be argued there is the opportunity to mould the left-hander into whatever is required.

Ultimately, it could be decided that moving Bethell and Smith to accommodate Rew is too much shuffling.

Make him wait

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?

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