Conversely, Azad looks like an interesting prospect for an opening slot if Sibley is out injured. Clearly has no problem batting time!
Aye. I was thinking about this on the golf course today - of the likely lads, Stokes is certainly out and Sibley is an outside bet at best, whilst Burns was probably on borrowed time and (whatever you think of them) Buttler, Malan, Bairstow, Ali and Sam Curran are not guaranteed to be back from the IPL. Oh and Jof is likely to need a little more time too. Leaves me thinking that those two tests against the Kiwis will see quite an "experimental" looking side.
On the positives from two rounds of games, Pope and Root have made runs and Broad got good overs in the bag and James Bracey made runs against Surrey. And Ollie Robinson, who must surely get a debut this summer, has about a hundred wickets already.