A different Alastair Cook will take to the field at Lord’s. With 33 Test hundreds and more than 11,000 runs under his belt, he is by far the most prolific batsman produced by his country. But the 4-0 series defeat in India last year did a stain on his legacy as captain, with Cook deciding to quit the role and concentrate on his batting.

Without the burden of leadership, Cook can pool all his resources into one pursuit – scoring runs day in day out and closing in on the all-time run mark of Sachin Tendulkar (15921 runs). That’s a realistic target for Cook and looking at his record over the past two years – 1364 runs in 2015 and 1270 last year – he is well on his way to that peak. And this time, there is no burden of captaincy to weigh him down. Indeed, his county form with Essex this summer has been sensational.

South Africa too have a batting powerhouse in their ranks. Hashim Amla is 48 runs short of 8,000 Test runs and will carry the batting burden on his shoulders in the absence of Faf du Plessis. However, 2017 hasn’t been a particularly high-scoring year for him as he averages less than 40 in five Tests. Even so, his class and temperament should help him to regain his touch that has enabled him to score a triple century in England.

Both sides have issues in the batting department. England’s opening partnership is not settled, as it hasn’t been for years, while they are giving Gary Ballance another go at Test cricket. South Africa are without two of their best batsmen in AB de Villiers and du Plessis. Cook and Amla have a lot of work to do.