With James Anderson sitting out England's first Test against Pakistan at Lord's on Thursday with a shoulder injury, how might the hosts fare without their senior strike bowler?
Despite Anderson being the country's all-time record wicket-taker, England have won 48 per cent of the 52 Tests they've played without him since he made his debut in 2003, in comparison to 44 per cent of the 116 he has played in.
Perhaps somewhat unfair given Anderson's early absences coincided with a very strong England team that won the 2005 Ashes with Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard leading the attack.
A fairer reflection would be to look at the eight Tests out of 104 that Anderson has missed since he burst back into the team on tour in New Zealand in 2008. Here's how England coped in those…
51 ALL OUT
(LOSS v West Indies, Jamaica, February 2009)
Following the sacking of Peter Moores as coach and with Andrew Strauss replacing Kevin Pietersen as captain, England left for a tour to the West Indies in turmoil. Things would get much worse as the tourists crumbled to an innings-and-23-run defeat in the first Test in Jamaica.
Anderson was dropped from the team following two low-key performances in the warm-up matches, with Ryan Sidebottom preferred as the swing option. Although Sidebottom went wicketless in his 24 overs, it wasn't the bowling that was the problem - England suffering an embarrassing batting collapse to 51 all out in their second innings.
RESTED IN BANGLADESH
(WIN v Bangladesh, Chittagong, March 2010)
(WIN v Bangladesh, Dhaka, March 2010)
Anderson was one a number of players rested for the two-Test tour of Bangladesh in early 2010 - captain Strauss also given a breather. It allowed for Steven Finn, Michael Carberry and James Tredwell to make their Test debuts on tour. The under-strength England made light work of the hosts, earning 181-run and nine-wicket wins.
Stand-in captain Alastair Cook cracked 173 in the win in Chittagong, with Paul Collingwood notching 145 and Graeme Swann taking 10 wickets in the match to spin the side to success. Things weren't quite so simple in Dhaka as Bangladesh tallied 419 in their first innings, but 138 from Ian Bell helped England nudge past that total and a second century on the tour for Cook (109no) saw England chase down 209 to win in the second innings.
DILSHAN DOMINATES
(DRAW v Sri Lanka, Lord's, June 2011)
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the dominant performer as England drew with Sri Lanka in 2011, getting himself onto the Lord's honours board with a Test-best 193. Matt Prior (126) and Cook (106) also notched centuries in a high-scoring game.
It was in stark contrast to the events of a week before in Cardiff as England bowled out Sri Lanka for 82 inside 25 overs to earn a thrilling final day victory. While Anderson played in that game, a side strain kept him from bowling in the second innings - Swann (4-16) and Chris Tremlett (4-40) doing the damage - and also prevented him from playing at Lord's.
TINO BEST BLASTS 95
(DRAW v West Indies, Edgbaston, June 2012)
With the series already won 2-0 with one to play, England controversially opted to rest both Anderson (nine wickets at 26.88) and Stuart Broad (14 wickets at 21.71) for the final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2012. When the game got going after much disruption due to rain, England's attack of Finn, Graeme Onions and Tim Bresnan struggled.
Denesh Ramdin responded to criticism from Viv Richards with 107 and a poorly-scrawled sign saying 'Yea Viv, Talk Nah', while Tino Best struck a then Test-best score by a number 11, with 95 from 112 balls. Ashton Agar would go on to break that record with 98 against an Anderson-led attack at Trent Bridge during the 2013 Ashes.
ASHES ABSENCE
(WIN v Australia, Trent Bridge, August 2015)
(LOSS v Australia, The Oval, August 2015)
It would be a further three years until Anderson would next be absent for England - and what a Test to miss! At a venue he loves, Trent Bridge (53 wickets in eight Tests at 19.24), with an Ashes series on the line (England 2-1 up with two to play), Anderson, again suffering from a side-strain, could only watch as a Broad-inspired England skittled Australia for 60 inside 19 overs on a sensational first morning of the fourth Test.
Off the back of Broad's 8-15, Joe Root struck 130 to give England a healthy lead before Ben Stokes took 6-36 to wrap up a convincing innings-and-78-run win and secure the urn for the hosts. A slight hangover followed at The Oval, with Australia captain Steve Smith striking 143 and leading his side to an innings victory of their own and a consolation win.
BOXING DAY WIN IN DURBAN
(WIN v South Africa, Durban, December 2015)
Anderson returned for England's autumn tour of Pakistan, but was again forced out for the first Test in South Africa, struggling with tightness in his right calf. Chris Woakes came in, taking match figures of 1-53, but it was a man-of-the-match effort from Moeen Ali that inspired an emphatic England win by 241 runs.
Nick Compton (85) and James Taylor (70) bailed England out of trouble from 49-3 to a score of 303 in their first innings. Moeen and Broad then shared four wickets apiece to give England a near 100-run advantage which Root (73) and Jonny Bairstow (79) added to in the second innings before Moeen spun South Africa out for a second time, finishing with match figures of 7-116. Anderson would return for the second Test in Cape Town and England would go on to claim a 2-1 series win.
See how England cope without Anderson - and Mohammad Amir's likely return to Test cricket - by watching their first Test against Pakistan, at Lord's, from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2.