He stops over-thinking insists Allott

“We thought about him having a winter off from cricket, but he is the sort who wants to work harder and harder on his game,” said Allott. “You can’t fault him on his work ethic or his resolve. We all hope he rediscovers the form we all know is lurking there somewhere.”

Hameed’s cricket education has come mainly from his dad, who has coached him all his life as he came through the age groups and academy at Old Trafford.

Allott believes the former Bolton School pupil may be overthinking his game. “With a lot of young players, we talk about second season syndrome, and I think there is an element of that,” said Allott.

“He does work as hard as he does and he is as dedicated as he is, he may have tinkered a little too much with his technique.

“That might have set him on a course that is not perhaps where he should have got to.

“He may have tried to overcompensate at times and be a bit too pernickety. He may have forgotten that the purpose of batting is not just to survive, but to score runs, and if you forget about scoring runs you are not cashing in on your trade.

“There is a feeling that playing one-day cricket, it would free him up. But he has to show he can do that. It’s tricky when his trade has been an opening batsman in red ball cricket.

“To open his wings and play white ball cricket he not only has to show us he can do that, he has to prove to himself he can do that.”