Two teams, many changes, all to play for. That's the scenario for India Women's tour of England, where the hosts of the next two World Cups will face each other, not just for the immediate spoils but with an inevitable big-tournament focus.
England have been buoyed by twin 3-0 sweeps of their white-ball series against West Indies after their 16-0 Ashes drubbing but expect a sterner test from an India side featuring a mix of stars, comebacks and inexperience.
England have also shaken things up under the new leadership of head coach Charlotte Edwards, captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and national selector Lydia Greenway.
Sophie Ecclestone returns for her first international appearances since January, joining fellow left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who shone on ODI debut against West Indies, as did seamer Em Arlott.
Tammy Beaumont, who has been on the fringes of the T20I side since the 2022 Ashes, is in the squad after a hugely successful ODI campaign, reprising her opening partnership with Amy Jones.
Against West Indies, the pair amassed 464 runs between them, including 424 in tandem, in two ODIs. With T20I opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge scoring just 17 runs in three innings, Beaumont offers a batting option, especially with former captain Heather Knight sidelined after tearing her hamstring tendon from the bone during that series.
Knight says she is on track to be fit for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year, while Beaumont - who has played just five T20Is in three years and was part of the squad but didn't play against West Indies - hasn't given up on making it to a home T20 World Cup in the English summer of 2026.
"The previous couple of years, I hadn't overly thought about that Lord's final and that World Cup here next year," Beaumont told ESPNcricinfo. "It was something that would be nice to happen, but I can't get too caught up in it. Getting that call-up for the West Indies T20 series was a little bit of a surprise, but a really nice surprise.
"This India series, I'm just trying to really enjoy my T20 cricket and try to contribute in any way I can. Once you're back in, you start looking at what's on the horizon and it'd be amazing to play in a home T20 World Cup. For me, it's just about enjoying every opportunity I get these days.
"It's been proven that if you perform at county level, you'll get a go and then you've just got to perform where you get the chance. That's something that tends to work pretty well in my brain, play what you see in front of you and, so far, so good."
Rewarding players for performing at domestic level has been a tenet of Edwards' time in charge since replacing Jon Lewis in April and the India series represents the next step in her task of rebuilding a team which, like India were humbled at the T20 World Cup 2024.
"It will be a really tough tour and series for us, but a really good test and a really good time for that," Beaumont said. "They keep finding more and more talent. There's a lot of names that I haven't played against before in this squad and that normally throws out some unexpected challenges.
"With the WPL, they're just getting so much talent coming through that's ready to go. It's going to be a tough challenge, but really exciting. There's always a bit of drama with the England-India series, so I'm sure there'll be some drama coming forward."
This is India's first visit to England since 2022, a tour which ended in high drama when Charlie Dean was run-out backing up by Deepti Sharma in the third ODI at Lord's and which seems a long time ago in the context of two T20 World Cups in which both sides have fallen short.
The T20I leg which kicks off this tour with five matches from Saturday represents a chance for both sides to stamp their authority before moving their attention to the three ODIs with eyes on the 2025 ODI World Cup.
While Jones and Beaumont made the bulk of England's runs in the ODIs, Sciver-Brunt still managed to score fifties in the first and third games, the latter while Beaumont was rested and Jones dropped down the order to give others a chance to bat. Sciver-Brunt also struck an unbeaten 55 in the second T20I in Hove, her first series as captain and a new mum after wife Katherine gave birth to their son, Theo, in March with the family travelling together through the West Indies series.
"She's always been great with kids and being with her own son is absolutely no different," Beaumont said of her skipper. "A lot of us are getting a bit broody watching how good she is with Theo.
"Katherine is doing brilliantly as well, making sure Nat can do everything she needs to do and look after the baby and then enjoy that time together and the way that Nat's handled it, is so typical Nat.
"She's almost superhuman at times, just to be able to be a mother and a new England captain and perform at the level that she always has done. It's just a testament to her character that she can just always take anything and everything in her stride."