Seven weeks on from Ben Stokes’ shock retirement at Trent Bridge and a humiliating 2-1 series defeat by New Zealand, England are back playing Test cricket this week when they take on Pakistan at Headingley from Wednesday.

A lot has changed since late June, with Joe Root back for a second stint as captain four years after his first and Stephen Fleming replacing his fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum as coach.

But with this three-match series coming just 10 months before the start of the next Ashes, there is plenty to play for. Fleming is absent, with Marcus Trescothick interim coach until the new man takes charge for the tour of South Africa in December.

And there are plenty of questions Fleming will want answered before then. Here are the most pressing…

Is Emilio Gay really good enough to be a long-term Test opener?

The 26-year’s debut series against New Zealand was okay, scoring two half-centuries in six innings.

There were flashes of class as well as some technical vulnerabilities that came to the fore, notably his tendency to plant his front foot too far across towards the off side so he becomes unbalanced and starts playing at balls outside of his eye line.

It’s notable he was caught behind the wicket in five of his six dismissals against New Zealand. But his temperament did stand up. It was positive that he appears to have overcome a shoulder injury but less so that his return came in a tour match for a County Select XI against Pakistan at Beckenham where he bagged a pair.

This is a huge series for the Durham opener and one where he can either lay down a marker for the months ahead or open up questions about his future heading into the winter.

Will Harry Brook be able to knuckle down after captaincy snub?

Brook still captains England’s white-ball teams and he remains as deputy in the Test set-up despite missing out to Root on the job to replace Stokes.

Before that appointment was made he had said being Test captain would be an “honour”. Now, in an interview with this week, he has said: “The decision to make Rooty captain is the right one. I’m actually really excited to see what he can do. I’m really looking forward to working alongside him.”

England will hope Brook can flourish under his fellow Yorkshireman and there’s no better place to start than Headingley. But without a Test century in a year and after an Ashes series in Australia where he averaged just under 40, Brook needs to step up.

Stokes told him after that last Ashes he is capable of averaging 70 – rather than his current mark of 53 after 38 Tests. That is still remarkable but it says everything about his talent that so much more is expected. England – and Root – could really do with him raising his game.

Is Dan Lawrence really Stokes’ long-term replacement?

Probably not. Have you seen the Surrey batter bowl his off-breaks (with their first-class bowling average of 47.65)?

There’s absolutely no doubt Lawrence can score plenty of runs in this series. But an all-rounder? No. It’s why national selector Marcus North has spoken about Sam Curran being the man England believe can fill the Stokes-shaped void – they hope by the third Test of this series when the all-rounder has proved his fitness.

It leaves Lawrence in an odd position but there is still a chance for him to stake his claim with big runs.

How do England manage Jofra Archer before the Ashes?

One thing you cannot criticise England for is their management of the key fast bowler since his return to Test cricket last year following a four-and-a-half-year absence.

It certainly bodes well that Root has admitted he overbowled Archer in his first spell as captain, including using him for 42 overs in the first innings of the Hamilton Test against New Zealand in late 2019 that many suspect led to his chronic right-elbow injury that kept him out for so long.

England really have to look after the 31-year-old now, including not playing him in every Test of this series and giving him a breather for some of the white-ball games against Sri Lanka that end this summer.

Make sure he’s fresh for South Africa this winter and then the Aussies at home next summer. And keep your fingers crossed because a fit and in-form Archer can make all the difference.

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Can Ollie Robinson finally show he’s a viable leader of the attack?

Absolutely. He just needs to prove it by staying fit and preferably playing all three Tests against Pakistan. Speaking exclusively to The i Paper last month, Robinson revealed he spent a month away from the spotlight working on his fitness after suffering a knee niggle in that New Zealand series.

As his man-of-the-match performance in the first Test of that series at Lord’s proved, on his day, Robinson is a match for any batter in the world.