The selectors meet today to choose a party of 14 for the Texaco Trophy matches against South Africa next week.
This time last year Ben Hollioake was promoted from the ranks of county cricket while still eligible for England's under-19 team. Neither Andrew Flintoff, also 20, nor Darren Maddy, 23, would be overawed or outclassed if included for the matches at the Oval, Old Trafford and Headingley, but this time caution may prevail.
These three were the youthful batting successes of the winter's A tour of Kenya and Sri Lanka, but the balance of the party will probably dictate that Maddy's chance will be delayed until the first Test and Flintoff's until the tour of Australia. It would be different if this 6ft 4in Lancastrian - the nearest thing to Ian Botham since Botham in style, build, talent and attitude was not still feeling his way back as a bowler after back trouble.
The chances are that the younger Hollioake will be omitted, too. Until his fast-medium bowling matures he is not truly an all-rounder and the faith shown in him as a free-stroking No 3 seems to have faded, partly because he was unable to do in the West Indies what he achieved so memorably against Australia at Lord's and partly because Adams has pressed his own case so effectively.
Adams has had a most impressive start as captain of Sussex after his long battle to get away from Derby. His hundreds in both innings in the championship match against Essex at Chelmsford have been supplemented by confident and forceful innings in the limited-overs matches in which he especially excels.
Room for specialist batsmen is small, with Alec Stewart and Nick Knight established as an effective opening pair and Adam Hollioake as captain. He is certain to be joined by two other all-rounders, Matthew Fleming and Mark Ealham.
Graham Thorpe, alongside Stewart, is the only player among England's established Test batsmen to be an automatic selection for these 50-over games, but Nasser Hussain is such a brilliant fielder that he deserves another chance to prove he has accepted the need to press on quickly in these games.
Despite the renewed claims of Ian Salisbury, Robert Croft and Ashley Giles are the obvious spinners. Angus Fraser is the only fast bowler in contention to have conceded fewer than four an over in his one-day internationals.
Gough is fully fit again and Lewis's talent has never been in doubt. His temperament has, but he seems to have been forgiven his late arrival and evasive explanation during the 1996 Oval Test.
Possible squad: Knight, -Stewart, Adams, Thorpe, Hussain, A D Brown, *A J Hollioake, Fleming, Ealham, Croft, Giles, Lewis, Gough, Fraser.