EDGBASTON — With the series against Pakistan already wrapped up, there is little riding on this final Test from an English perspective. Yet for three players, this week in Birmingham could be the defining one of their careers.

Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence all have plenty to play for at Edgbaston, even if the biggest talking point pre-match is whether a Pakistan team in chaos can take the match into the weekend.

This is England’s last Test for three months, and therefore that trio’s final chance to stake a claim for the tour of South Africa that starts in December and represents coach Stephen Fleming’s first assignment in his new job.

There may be an end-of-term feel around this dead rubber after England’s dominant wins at Headingley and Lord’s in the first two matches of the series.

But there’s an opportunity for those on the fringes to make sure they’re part of the team’s new era under New Zealander Fleming.

Cox is in the strongest position of the three. Half-centuries in those first two Tests were probably equivalent to hundreds given how tough conditions for batting were.

Indeed, it’s been tough all summer. Ben Duckett is the only England player to have reached three figures in Tests so far – and that was against New Zealand at Trent Bridge way back in June.

Cox is filling in at No 3 in this series thanks to the right-knee injury that has ruled Jacob Bethell out for the rest of the summer.

And it is his return for South Africa that will give England perhaps their biggest selection headache of the winter.

New opener already under pressure

With Emilio Gay struggling for runs since making his debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in June, one of Bethell or Cox could move up the order to replace the Durham opener.

Gay is averaging 23.44 after five Tests. It’s a small sample size but he needs runs at Edgbaston to keep his name in the selection conversation beyond this week.

Root was asked three times in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday about that opening position alongside Duckett for the winter. Could Bethell open? Could Cox open? Does Gay need runs?

Although supportive of Gay – “I think Emilio has been brilliant in the conditions we’ve had and I’d think it would be unfair to have any kind of discussions on anything outside of this game” – there were no guarantees from Root.

Yet if Gay scores a century this week, it would give him a fair chance of being involved in the winter.

The Ben Stokes replacement problem

Lawrence is a different case. This is his third coming as an England player, having largely been forced to bat out of position high up the order across his first 14 Tests. Since his recall for this series, he has made two gutsy half-centuries in three innings.

In the squad as an all-rounder – despite a first-class bowling average of 46.65 for his loopy off-breaks – he is essentially England’s Ben Stokes replacement.

It appears England, who are likely to be unchanged in Birmingham, are happy to stick with him for now, especially with Sam Curran, a genuine all-round option, recovering from groin surgery.

Yet the 29-year-old really could hammer down his place in the team with big runs this week.

Despite his kind words about Gay, Root heaped praise on both Cox and Lawrence at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

“It’s been tough and they’ve played some brilliant knocks in those conditions and made vital contributions. They’ve both taken to those positions extremely well,” the captain said.

‘Shambolic’ Pakistan will help all three

Cox and Lawrence already have earned significant goodwill with the selectors. This Test, which again could see a pitch and overhead conditions that are challenging for batters, is an opportunity to rubber stamp their place in Fleming and Root’s winter plans.

For Gay, the opportunity is to make the captain and coach’s life more difficult. That it comes against an inexperienced and shambolic Pakistan will help.

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Root admitted England were struggling to find footage of some of Pakistan’s seven replacement players, including five who are uncapped, after they opted for wholesale change after defeat at Lord’s.

“There’s not a lot out there,” Root admitted. “But you go back 50, 60 years, you didn’t have video footage then, and the guys still found a way of figuring it out.”