As one England tour comes to an end, another is about to begin.
England will swap the red T20 kits they wore in South Africa - their blue ODI ones not needed in the end - for Test whites in Sri Lanka, with two games to be held behind closed doors in Galle in mid-to-late January.
The squad for that trip will be announced on Friday, with Jonny Bairstow expected to be recalled, Jofra Archer expected to be rested and Adil Rashid's absence from the Test arena set to extend.
Bairstow has played 70 Tests for England but none since December 2019. However, with Ollie Pope looking likely to miss the Sri Lanka tour due to a shoulder injury, Bairstow is set to return as a specialist batsman, with Jos Buttler keeping the gloves and Ben Foakes travelling as back-up gloveman.
Bairstow's Test comeback seemed all but certain as soon as he withdrew from his Big Bash stint with Melbourne Stars, with the franchise's coach, David Hussey, saying: "We're disappointed Jonny won't be able to link up with us but we wish him well on his recall and England's winter tours."
The 31-year-old averaged only 18.55 in 10 Tests in 2019 and passed fifty just twice during a startling loss of red-ball form - but did hit a century in Sri Lanka in late 2018 while playing as a specialist batsman.
The Yorkshireman's 110 from the No 3 spot in the final Test in Colombo helped England seal a 3-0 sweep of Sri Lanka after a pre-series ankle injury had seen Foakes replace him as wicketkeeper.
Bairstow could slot into Pope's No 6 spot but he might be needed higher up the order if opening batsman Rory Burns sits out part or all of the trip in order to attend the birth of his first child. The Surrey player recently told the Evening Standard: "I'm not sure [whether I would miss a Test]. I'd like to be there for the birth, especially with it being the first one."
An absence for Burns could see Zak Crawley - who scored 267 from the No 3 position against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl this summer - pushed up to partner Dom Sibley but Sky Cricket expert Michael Atherton thinks Bairstow is a contender to open, just as he does in white-ball cricket.
The former England captain said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: "You could experiment with someone like Bairstow, who got a hundred at No 3 in Colombo in 2018. Three to opening is not much of a difference and he is a good player of spin. It's whether they want to move Crawley or not. Whether they say 'he has shown himself to be a No 3 and we haven't had that many top-class number threes of late' or stick him as opener."
Keaton Jennings may also be in the running for a place on the tour - both of the opener's Test tons have come in the subcontinent, an unbeaten 146 in Galle in 2018 after a score of 112 on debut against India in Chennai in 2016. He was also selected for England's initial tour of Sri Lanka in March this year before the coronavirus pandemic saw it postponed.
One man unlikely to travel is Archer, with the England quick expected to be given a breather after a lengthy amount of time in biosecure bubbles - his 87 days across the English summer were more than any other player - and with a tour of India to follow the Sri Lanka trip in February and March.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad will probably make the trip, though maybe not as guaranteed starters in a spin-friendly environment, while fellow pacers Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes should join them on the plane. Perhaps Olly Stone, too.
All-rounder Ben Stokes also provides a seam-bowling option but what the passing of his father Ged means for his availability remains to be seen.
Then it's on to the spinners. Rashid (12 wickets), Moeen Ali (18 wickets) and Jack Leach (18 wickets) claimed a combined 48 scalps between them in the 2018 clean sweep in Sri Lanka - but Rashid has not played a Test in nearly two years, Moeen has not played one in 16 months and Leach has barely played any cricket at all in 2020.
Leg-spinner Rashid is one of the first names on the teamsheet for England in white-ball cricket and impressed again in the 3-0 T20 win over South Africa, with his economy rate under six runs an over.
Yet, a Test return does not appear imminent going by what the 32-year-old said on The Hussain and Key Cricket Show, with Rashid suggesting he is concerned how his shoulder will stand up to the rigours of the format.
"It is definitely a difficult one. In Sri Lanka and India it's potentially bowling a lot of overs and I haven't bowled a lot of overs since my shoulder injury so it all depends whether my shoulder can hack it. Can I bowl those long spells out there? These are the questions I need to ask myself.
"I came across an article where Nasser said about making sure you are mentally tough [for Test cricket] and really want it. How you have to be mentally switched on, try to create chances and if your heart and mind are not there then it could be a very long tour. There is all that to come into it."
Moeen has been more forthcoming about his desire to play Test cricket again. "I have had enough of a break, I want to play Test cricket again. I still feel I have a lot to give and there are lots of things I want to achieve," he told reporters during the tour of South Africa tour.
England would have enjoyed hearing that commitment from a man with 181 wickets and over 2,700 runs - including five centuries - in Test cricket, with a firing Moeen giving the side tremendous balance.
Moeen, Leach and current incumbent Dom Bess seems the likely spin trio for Sri Lanka, despite slow left-armer Leach's lack of game time, first through bouts of gastroenteritis and sepsis and then as he spent the majority of the summer in England's bubble as back-up to Bess.
Off-spinner Bess has averaged over 40 in eight Tests since returning to the Test team, a figure which rises to 55.50 in six games at home, but no one else is bashing the door down. That said, Surrey off-spinner Amar Virdi and Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson are potential options.
Follow England's Test squad announcement for the Sri Lanka tour on Sky Sports News and across our digital platforms on Friday afternoon.