England have named their 30-man squad for the World Cup, which will be whittled down to 15 soon after the tour of Sri Lanka. There are no great surprises in the list of names. At the top Alastair Cook is named as the captain, written confirmation of what has been consistently indicated by the England hierarchy. The captain generally gets in the final squad. He’s in.

There is no place for Jonathan Trott, who will be performing for the Lions after Christmas. Among the names are two, not in Sri Lanka, who are certain to go to Australia once their fitness is confirmed, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. The other absentee from the current squad, who just might be recalled, is Gary Ballance. The only players included who have never won an England cap in any format are Jack Brooks and James Vince but the world’s growing band of analysts are unlikely to spend much time researching them.

However, this is an age of dossiers. Every cricketing nation will have them on their opponents and some of the contents regarding England players are surely changing. Not many amendments are being made to those of Cook and Ian Bell, but the dossiers about Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler and, perhaps, Joe Root are expanding.

The evolution of the England team seems to be speeding up. Who are now the key men summoned to play for their country in every form of the game? Moeen, Buttler and Root (Broad might also qualify except that his body refuses to allow him to be omnipresent).

It was instructive on the eve of Sunday’s match in Colombo to hear how opponents view these players. Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka’s captain, talked about Buttler who had sealed England’s victory in Hambantota: “He is very dangerous. He’s got the shots to hit the ball all around the park. He is difficult to bowl at. You need to get rid of him because he can change the game.” On Moeen he said: “He takes lots of risks and he hits good balls out of the park,” before adding endearingly though perhaps redundantly, “which is unfortunate from our point of view.”

At the moment Moeen and Buttler are the men that opposition analysts are focusing upon. They are advancing swiftly in performance and status. It was interesting that when Buttler, 24, was asked about the development of Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan, it was as a relatively senior citizen, who had been through the torments of establishing a place in the side. “I don’t think these two guys are worried really; they are fantastically talented and sometimes all you need is an opportunity to show what you’ve got,” said the wise old Buttler.

So it is that in 2015 the challenge for the England hierarchy regarding their ever-presents, Moeen, Buttler and Root, changes. It is no longer about bringing them on to the international stage – that has been achieved; they now have to work out how to keep this vital trio fresh and firing amid a jam-packed calendar of international cricket.