The fourth one-day international at The Oval is a chance not just for England to complete another series win over Sri Lanka.
It is an opportunity for Joe Root to begin transforming a summer of scraps into something more substantial.
England’s classiest all-format batsman has so far had an international season which, by his own Olympian standards, has failed to get started.
England’s star batsman Joe Root is a future captain of the side but has struggled for runs so far this summer
Root prepares to take a catch during training as England prepare for their latest clash with Sri Lanka
The Yorkshireman is England’s classiest batsman but has had a patchy season so far with the willow
His form does not constitute a crisis: events elsewhere in Britain over the past week have, for the time being, removed that noun from sport’s lexicon.
But six innings for his country have produced only one score above 11, and left onlookers with the suspicion that Root is lacking his usual joie de vivre.
England’s dominance of the Test series against the Sri Lankans meant he batted only four times in three games, a typically ebullient 80 at Chester-le-Street sandwiched by scores of nought at Headingley, then three and four at Lord’s.
Root made it to 11 in Bristol on Sunday before the wet weather called an early halt to the clash with Sri Lanka
Root is taking a small break from cricket after this one-day series before the start of the Pakistan Tests
And his one-day series has been equally piecemeal. Bowled by Angelo Mathews for two during the tie at Trent Bridge, he sat through England’s entire innings at Edgbaston with his pads on while Jason Roy and Alex Hales knocked off a target of 255 all by themselves.
Then, having moved with some of his old effortlessness to 11 at Bristol on Sunday, the heavens opened.
Root remains fourth in the ICC rankings for both Tests and Twenty20, and 10th in 50-over cricket. Among other England batsmen, only Hales — seventh in Twenty20 — features in any of the top 10s. Root has long been England’s banker, and will one day captain them.
But his absence from next week’s one-off Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka at Southampton, a game from which he had already been rested, means he has only these last two one-day internationals to find any form ahead of the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, starting on July 14.
If the weather relents in south London for long enough, England can go 2-0 up with one to play against a Sri Lankan side who are yet to win a game on this tour.
A shaky forecast and an Oval surface tinged with green could count against Moeen Ali’s hopes of returning to the side after he was deposed by Chris Jordan in Bristol.
Liam Plunkett (left) and Chris Jordan are both expected to be a part of the England side at The Oval
The recent wet weather is expected to count against Moeen Ali with Jordan likely to keep hold of his place
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