After what seems an age, the eagerly anticipated Test series between England and India finally gets underway in Birmingham next week and for both sides, the stakes really couldn't be higher.
For Joe Root and his team, following a disastrous winter Down Under and a drawn series with Pakistan earlier this summer, it is high time they started to show the same level of progress that has been seen with the white-ball.
Anything other than a series-levelling victory over Pakistan at Headingley back in June might have meant the end for coach Trevor Bayliss and should England fail to deliver over the next few weeks, don't be surprised to see the pressure ramped back up on the Bayliss and Root partnership.
Furthermore, England's new selection panel has come under intense criticism over the last few days following their decision to recall the previously retired Adil Rashid back into the Test squad - much to Yorkshire's dismay - and with the likes of Keaton Jennings and Dawid Malan other names to have been backed by Ed Smith and his fellow selectors, results are the only currency England will deal in for the remainder of the summer.
The selection of Rashid is a contentious one but the player himself deserves more sympathy than what he has been afforded in the some quarters.
Rashid had been fully committed to the England cause until being overlooked for the first Test of the 2017 summer when Root began his captaincy by proclaiming that he'd 'had a big say in this team' that included two spinners, Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson, but had no room for Rashid even in the initial squad.
With Rashid having seemingly fallen so far down the red-ball pecking order, it was no surprise to see him concentrate on white-ball cricket thereafter but following a terrific year in the shorter forms of the game, Root and England have had a change of heart and so has Rashid.
It is certainly a bold move from England, but given the recent heatwave and Rashid's performances against India in the recent ODI series, it is one they have to take following Mason Crane's season-ending injury and Jack Leach's own injury problems this year.
Their victory in the T20 series and solid showing in the subsequent 50-overs offering suggests there is not between both groups but the aforementioned question marks surrounding the make up of the Indian team means I'm happy to duck the outright market and sit back and watch what should be a wonderful spectacle.
For those looking for interest in the first Test on Wednesday, I'm keen to side with Vijay in a couple of individual markets.
As already stated, he enjoyed a strong series here back in 2014 and a first innings fifty against Essex, compiled in almost in three hours of batting, should have put him cherry ripe for Edgbaston.
An old-style opener who leaves the ball well and likes to occupy the crease for long periods, he looks worth a supporting to make over 26.5 first innings runs at with the available about him making a first innings fifty also appealing.
Posted at 1330 BST on 30/07/18