At the height of England's success under Andy Flower the announcement of Test squads became a pretty mundane affair. Except for the occasional retirement or injury there was rarely much conjecture over the names that would be revealed.

The situation now is much different. The squad that James Whitaker will name on Wednesday morning - the first time Whitaker has named a Test party since taking over from Geoff Miller as national selector - has just four certainties that would be included by anyone asked for a squad: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

Those four are the senior core of the England team now. The names that will go alongside them have been much-debated during the opening weeks of an intriguing domestic season. Arguably, not since Duncan Fletcher took over with England rock bottom of the Test rankings in 1999 has there been such room for reinvention.

So far, when it has come to the limited-overs formats, the selectors have hardly ripped up the script: the only new cap this season has been left-armer Harry Gurney. But the Test side could feature four new faces - not since 1993, against Australia at Trent Bridge, have England handed out four debuts in the same Tests - and is very likely to have three.

(ESPN)