Michael Carberry faced 184 balls during the Boxing Day Test in 2013. Mitchell Johnson was on fire during that Ashes series, bowling as quickly as many seasoned observers could remember, and although Carberry only made 38 and 18 at the MCG, he seemed the best equipped of all England's batsmen to deal with the pace and hostility of Johnson. Quite simply, he looked the part.

Carberry scored 281 runs at 28.10 in that 2013/14 series with one half-century but only Ben Stokes and Kevin Pietersen did better. They were not figures to write home about, of course, but in the face of Johnson's express pace and coming on a nightmare tour which ended in a whitewash, Carberry's performance was enough to suggest he had a Test future. Instead, the left-hander was discarded after that trip to Australia and never played another match.

Four years later and England still have not found a regular, consistent opening partner for Alastair Cook. Sam Robson, Nick Compton, Adam Lyth, Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings have all been tried but none have lasted the course. Mark Stoneman is the latest to be given a chance but despite some glimpses of potential, he has yet to make the big score that would secure his long-term spot in the team.

Which means England's selectors have a similar decision to make regarding Stoneman now that they had to make over Carberry at the end of the previous tour to Australia. Stoneman has scored 232 runs in the current series at 29 with one more innings in Sydney to go. He has scored two half-centuries