I see bowlers in the domestic game who have the raw materials to be international players. Sonny Baker and John Turner are two of them, both of Hampshire (although Turner has been on loan at Lancashire), and have been identified by England despite having almost no first-class cricket behind them.

Baker, Turner and others who have the attributes to trouble the best batters will know that one performance, even one spell, might be enough to earn them a call-up. There’s precedent for it, too. Stokes first saw off-spinner Shoaib Bashir bowl in a clip on social media, then shared it in his WhatsApp group with Key and McCullum. Not long after, Bashir was in the England squad.

Another difference between my time as an international cricketer and now is England’s attitude towards franchise cricket, particularly the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Now there is an acceptance players hold a lot of power and cannot be denied lucrative franchise opportunities. Who can blame the players for this? After all, it can be a short career.

This is in contrast to when I wanted to put my name forward for the 2013 IPL auction. I thought I had a good chance of being picked up. I was bowling quickly, had bowled nicely in a white-ball series in India, getting good players out, and had just had a good T20 World Cup.

At the end of 2012, we were on the famous Test tour of India, when we won 2-1. I had to ask permission from the England and Wales Cricket Board to enter the auction and, within five minutes of submitting my forms, received an email telling me I wasn’t allowed but that Andy Flower, the head coach, would explain why.

That evening, I was having room service in the bedroom of Kevin Pietersen (who was the first England player to spot the might of the IPL), along with Eoin Morgan. I was summoned to see Flower and, as I was on the way out of the door, KP told me to tell Flower I was entering the auction whether he liked it or not.

It was a short meeting with Flower. He told me I had to be playing county cricket at the beginning of the following summer in order to back-up performances and be in contention to play Test cricket at the beginning of a double Ashes year. I did as I was told. To me, Test cricket was the pinnacle and I would have done anything to get a spot in that England team.

Times have changed. How exciting it must be to be a player now with the potential to succeed in international cricket.

Every time you walk on to the pitch you feel like you have the opportunity to put your name forward, to be the subject of the next clip in the England management WhatsApp group, with Key and his cohorts thinking ‘we can’t ignore this, can we?’