The confused state of England's Test summer came soon after victory against Pakistan at Headingley on Friday. The man who helped oversee England's second win in four Test matches, after the man who oversaw the first was sacked last month, was making a pitch to stay on in the set-up.
Marcus Trescothick is interim head coach following Brendon McCullum's departure, and is keeping the seat warm for the incoming Stephen Fleming, but this time he went in to bat for himself. He's been an assistant coach since McCullum took over in 2022, having been appointed batting coach in March 2021, and he stated his desire to be a part of a rebuild he has now kick-started with England's triumph by an innings and 103 runs.
"I'd love to carry on, of course," he said after the first Test.
"First and foremost, I want to be involved in all formats of the game because it's a wonderful place to be. Working with the best and seeing England cricketers do well. That's not really for me to judge so I'll wait and see what happens."
Trescothick is still involved in the limited-overs set-up, with McCullum retaining his post in charge of the ODI and T20I sides. But the former Somerset and England opener, along with fellow coaches Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee and Sarah Taylor were tasked with priming the Test set-up for these three matches against Pakistan. The tourists will need to improve drastically, ahead of next week's Lord's Test, to prevent this cohort of supporting acts from overseeing England's first Test series win since December 2024.
What does it all mean? Well, who knows. A comfortable victory inside two-and-a-bit days meant it was hard to draw too many worthwhile conclusions from those who took the field, and those off it.
Since Fleming's appointment, there have been regular conversations between the trio of Trescothick and returning captain Joe Root. By all accounts, they have been as thorough as possible, even though their co-ordination has been complicated by Fleming's decision to spend time with his family before arriving in the UK in September, as well as by the Hundred, which prevented the squad from gathering any sooner than Monday evening, ahead of Wednesday's start in Leeds.
"We've been exchanging messages every day," Trescothick said of his conversations with Fleming. "Just to keep topping up on what we're trying to do. Probably in the last three or four days building up, we spoke every day as well just to touch base; see how things have planned out, how everyone had trained, getting the group back together.
"[Fleming] was adamant me and Joe take it on, and just run with what we feel is right, to try and get the group back in shape, with a few pointers on what he wanted, and how he could see his style being implemented within the group.
"It's not rocket science, in terms of what he sees and how he progresses with the team. We've sort of cherry-picked a couple of those, and we've then dropped it in to various conversations and various team meetings."
While Trescothick has been bread-crumbing Fleming's methods into the group, similar clues around his future have been scattered in the outside world. Ahead of the final day at Headingley, Mike Hussey confirmed he had been sounded out by Fleming for a Test batting coach role, which would effectively make Trescothick's spot in the red-ball set-up redundant.
It would be sad end to the 50-year old's time with the team. Inexplicably, he is something of a rarity: an adored England cricketer, a veteran of 76 Tests, who has gone on to hold an important coaching role within the national side.
It is worth noting how big that job has been for Trescothick himself.
Mental health issues meant his last overseas Test and ODI caps came on a winter tour of Pakistan in 2005, before his international career came to an end the following summer. That he remained on the domestic circuit with Somerset up until 2019, by then having dipped his toe in coaching, is remarkable and underpins what might have been. He had so much more to give to England as a cricketer.
As such, coaching gave him the chance to make that up. A return to Pakistan at the end of 2022 as assistant was a seminal moment. "I still work at it, I still work on myself on various bits and pieces," Trescothick said of his mental health during that series. "But it is a much better place than where I was 15 years ago."
Regime change, however, is necessary and will not just come with McCullum's axing, or even the retirement of Ben Stokes forcing England to reassess their Test strategy. The slide over the past 18 months is worn by the players but the fault also lies with the coaches for the stunted development and lack of nous accrued over this period.
That was laid bare during last winter's Ashes, and the summer's opening 2-1 defeat to New Zealand. Especially in the batting, which is on Trescothick.
Perhaps that is harsh, given a lot of England's batters seek their own counsel when they are away from the Test environment. At times, that has resulted in contradictory messages, and there were nuggets throughout the recent period of under-performance that suggest players have had to fend for themselves when trying to address slumps in form.
Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope were two notable players who seemed to make the same mistakes at the top of the order. Jamie Smith, 26 and in only his third year as a Test batter, is another to have struggled the longer he has spent in the set-up.
Smith's fine start to international cricket has long since gone south. His tame dismissal on day three in this Test - clothing a pull in the air for 25 - means he is averaging 21.84 from 20 innings since scoring 184 not out and 88 against India in the Edgbaston Test last summer. Should Jordan Cox, also a keeper, build on the 73 he made while moonlighting at No.3, Smith might find himself in an awkward situation upon Jacob Bethell's return.
When Jos Buttler praised Trescothick for turning around his short-ball form during the Hundred, it was a much-needed boost to Trescothick's credentials in these uncertain times. The pair played together at Somerset and Trescothick is one of Buttler's idols. It was as much someone doing right by a mate as a coach deeply familiar with a player's game offering resourced insight.
Alas, the progress of this Test side requires fresh eyes, and Fleming is only the start of that process. For all Trescothick's pride, he knows he and his fellow assistants may well be in their final weeks with the Test team.
"I've a huge amount of respect for Stephen [Fleming] and what he's done in the game," Trescothick said. "He was a fantastic captain and leader and has done a brilliant job doing what he's done as a coach. It's really not in my job or position to judge that. I'd love to carry on.
"We've had a great time doing the job and what we've been doing with some success and challenges. We'll wait until we get the tap on the shoulder."