Sonny Baker's career has been in fast-forward this summer but he will head to Pakistan for England's ODI tri-series this month focused on reverse.
Baker was backed to open the bowling in England's ODI series decider against Sri Lanka on Sunday and will have further chances to impress in Pakistan with Jofra Archer rested after a busy summer. But he wants to develop his death-over skills, and to learn more about reverse-swing in particular after advice from his Hampshire team-mate Kyle Abbott.
"One of my biggest things that I'm trying to do for the rest of my career is try to break it down into segments: 'Right, during this period of time, what am I focusing on? What am I trying to get out of it?'" Baker said, speaking after he was named men's young player of the year at the Toyota PCA Awards on Wednesday night.
"For example, Pakistan would be [learning about] reverse-swing and trying to bang my yorkers, and learn about executing skills in those conditions and reading conditions in Pakistan, because it's not somewhere I've been before. I'm sure that'll be a very transferable skill to playing in other areas of Asia.
"I'm really, really looking forward to that - particularly reverse-swing, [which] I think caters to my action quite nicely. Having spoken to Kylo [Abbott] a little bit about doing that in the red-ball stuff, it would be really useful going out there and having some proper experience of doing it, rather than just the theory."
Baker was named in England's 16-man squad for their tri-series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Thursday morning, with Archer rested. Legspinner Mason Crane has been recalled more than eight years after his most recent England cap, in the fifth Ashes Test in 2017-18, leapfrogging Rehan Ahmed, and will act as Adil Rashid's back-up as he returns from a hand injury.
Marcus North, England's selector, said that Crane had shown he "thoroughly deserves another opportunity at international level" through his performances for Glamorgan. Rehan misses out after two poor showings against Sri Lanka while deputising for Rashid, in which he took three expensive wickets and made scores of 2 and 0.
Sam Curran is also included after missing England's series wins over Sri Lanka with a groin injury, but Jacob Bethell (knee) and Jos Buttler (hamstring) both miss out as expected. Sussex's James Coles has also been called up to the ODI squad after he was only named for the T20Is against Sri Lanka, while his former county team-mate Henry Crocombe - who is leaving for Surrey - keeps his spot.
England will play either four or five ODIs in the series, depending on whether they reach the final, and will then travel to Australia for three ODIs and five T20Is in late November. The rest of their winter is dominated by Test cricket, with fixtures in South Africa (three), Bangladesh (two) and Australia (one) as well as three more ODIs in South Africa in mid-January.
Baker will have a new bowling coach to work with in Pakistan, with David Saker replacing Tim Southee for the tri-series. Mike Yardy and Carl Hopkinson have also been drafted into Brendon McCullum's coaching staff for the tour to work with Jeetan Patel, with Marcus Trescothick, Kevin Pietersen and Sarah Taylor all missing the trip.
He also expects to work closely with Troy Cooley, the ECB's pace-bowling lead, over the course of the winter and said that he feels "very much at home" in the England dressing-room after playing across formats this summer. That included a Test debut at The Oval in chaotic circumstances, which he highlighted as his favourite day of the season.
"You can't really top your Test debut, can you? Come on!" Baker said. "Mind you, the whole morning I was sick with anxiety. I was honestly so nervous. That's probably the most nervous I've ever been by some distance. I normally am alright eating and stuff before games, but I was properly bushed, but it was really good."
He is weighing up whether or not to enter December's IPL auction after winning the Hundred with Manchester Super Giants this summer, and said that his decision will come down to communication from the ECB about "the best thing for my development" after working out where he sits in England's pecking order in each format.
"If [the best thing] is going to the IPL and learning cool stuff out there, then I'll enter; if it's staying [in England] for red-ball because you think you're in with a shout for Ashes stuff, then I'll absolutely go and do that. It all really depends on what the context is at the time… England will always be number one for me, so I'll go from there."
England tri-series in Pakistan:
Squad: Harry Brook (capt), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, James Coles, Jordan Cox (wk), Mason Crane, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Josh Tongue.
Fixtures: October 18 - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, October 20 - Pakistan vs England, October 22 - Sri Lanka vs England (all Rawalpindi), October 25 - Pakistan vs England, October 27 - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, October 29 - Sri Lanka vs England (all Lahore), October 31 - Final (Lahore).