Whilst cricket is a team sport, it is unique in having isolated skills and roles. Team dynamic is key, but not as integral as in football, for example.

Some team-mates will go months without seeing or working with each other.

Whilst some are in England, some are operating on the other side of the world in a completely different time zone.

You may not cross paths until a couple of weeks before the season begins.

But there is sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Many sides end their long winter grind with a pre-season tour to get some much anticipated game time in.

These tours are usually in March, to warmer climates such as the United Arab Emirates, South Africa or India.

Tours allow for time on grass to implement the skills you have (hopefully) gained over the winter period.

They allow teams to try different players in different roles, and perfect your first starting XI ready for April.

For now, with the weeks filled with early morning conditioning sessions and fielding in winter gloves, time on grass in warmer temperatures certainly feels far away.