The leader, supporting actor and X-factor – Finn on England's attack

Published 9 minutes ago The fallout from England's Ashes loss means the home summer arrives with more intrigue and questions than any other in recent memory. The series against New Zealand and Pakistan – starting with the first Test against the Black Caps at Lord's on Thursday – carry more significance than they might if results had gone well. In 2014, I was part of the side that returned home with our tails between our legs after losing 5-0 to Mitchell Johnson and co. It was the end of the road for that team as we knew it – it was clear there was going to be a seismic shift. Andy Flower stood down as head coach and Kevin Pietersen never played for England again. Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar all never wore the whites for England beyond that point. This time there has not been a high-profile sacking, or wholesale changes of players. It's been more a shuffling of the pack and a slap on the wrist. Opener Zak Crawley is the most high-profile casualty. He definitely has the talent to play international cricket again, but I wonder whether he would benefit from dropping into the middle order to make the most of the obvious strengths in his ability. While there has been a simple switch in the batting order – Crawley replaced by Emilio Gay – there are as many as eight frontline bowling options in the 15-man squad, including captain Ben Stokes. It is a curiously large squad for the first Test of the summer, especially after England have had so much time to make their plans – almost five months since the Ashes ended. As a player, I always preferred limiting the amount of deliberation inside my head in the build-up to a Test. Quite often, I'd be part of a 12-man squad and knew I was competing with one person – usually Tremlett, Bresnan or Graham Onions – for the final bowling spot in the XI. It meant we all knew our chances of playing in the build-up to a Test. I'm not privy to the conversations that have been had within the current set-up, but the naming of such a large squad suggests a certain amount of uncertainty. England squad for first Test against New Zealand: Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, After his return to the England squad, Ollie Robinson was described as "one of the best bowlers in the world" by England director of cricket Rob Key England made no secrets about their Ashes gameplan: hit Australia with hostile pace and try to make them uncomfortable. What transpired down under was a more nuanced set of conditions, far more akin to what we would expect in the UK. The sight of an Australian bowling attack using a wicketkeeper stood up to the stumps for two of their seam bowlers tells you everything you need to know. The best teams I played in had bowlers who fulfilled specific roles. Right now, the England atta