England could be forgiven for lacking in motivation ahead of their T20I series with Bangladesh, but Chris Woakes sees it as a chance for them to "lay down a marker" following their World Cup triumph.
Matthew Mott's team won the 50-over series in Bangladesh 2-1, with that format receiving the greatest emphasis with England set to defend the Cricket World Cup in India in October.
England won the T20 World Cup last year but will not have to defend that title until June next year, making a three-match series over the shortest format perhaps seem a tad insignificant.
That feeling is furthered by the absence of Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Alex Hales and Liam Livingstone from the squad.
For Woakes, though, there is no lack of desire.
"It's a great opportunity for us to hopefully lay down a marker again as world champions," said Woakes ahead of Thursday's opener in Chattogram.
"We haven't played a series since we won that World Cup so it's a challenge for us in these conditions, but it's exciting to play here against obviously a very good Bangladesh side.
"It does feel a little bit strange, we're obviously playing a format that isn't overly necessary right now.
"Nonetheless, you're playing for England and you want to win, so we're looking forward to the next three games."
Bangladesh have lost seven of their last nine men's T20 internationals, those two wins coming against Zimbabwe and the Netherlands at the World Cup.
New coach Chandika Hathurusingha was impressed by his side's performance in the ODIs and is excited to see whether his squad can rise to the challenge against the world champions.
"I am very open to see what we can do," Hathurusingha said. "I expect players to do the same thing that got them selected.
"So go and show in the international level against the world champions, for them to understand where they are at, and for us to understand whether we are better than them in our conditions or they are better than us.
"It is a good opportunity for us to see our skill set in T20s."
Jordan closing on century
Chris Jordan has been drafted into the squad and has the chance to make history.
He is England's leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket with 95 and by taking five more would become the sixth male player to take 100 wickets in the format.
Jordan would also become the third England player, male or female, to achieve the feat, following Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.
A Litton bit more
Wicketkeeper Litton Das will be one of the players Bangladesh look to for batting firepower.
Since the beginning of 2022, he has a batting strike rate of 140.6 from 360 balls faced in T20Is, the highest of any Bangladesh player in the format in that time to have faced at least 10 balls.
They will likely need him to produce more of that kind of form if they are to threaten to upset the odds.
Djokovic makes dominant start to Olympic gold medal bid
Novak Djokovic began his latest Olympic gold medal bid with a statement victory over Australia's Matthew Ebden at Roland-Garros.
The 24-time major winner took just 53 minutes to wrap up a comprehensive 6-0 6-1 rout on Court Philippe-Chatrier, to set up a potential second-round clash with Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic won bronze on his Olympic debut in 2008, but missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in 2012 and 2020, while he was beaten in round one in Rio by eventual silver medallist Juan Martin del Potro eight years ago.
However, there was no danger of a repeat of the latter this time around. The Serb took just 24 minutes to wrap up a dominant first set, in which he bageled his helpless opponent.
Ebden remained in positive spirits despite his ordeal. At one stage, he offered his racquet to the crowd, who gave him a wonderful reception when he won his first game of the contest at the 11th attempt.
Nevertheless, it only briefly delayed the inevitable, with Djokovic cruising to the finish line.
Data Debrief: Dominant Djokovic soars into second round
There was no messing around from the 24-time major winner on Saturday, as he was done and dusted in just under an hour at Roland-Garros.
He converted six of his nine break-point opportunities, while winning 14 of 19 net points (74%).
The identity of his second-round opponent is still to be decided, but we could well see a blockbuster clash with Nadal.
Allen hundred sets up rematch between San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket final
Aggresive New Zealand opener Finn Allen hit the third hundred of his T20 career to propel the San Francisco Unicorns to a win over the Texas Super Kings at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Friday to advance to the Major League Cricket final.
The 25-year-old Allen put the Super Kings to the sword in Friday's Challenger to help his side make 200-6 off their 20 overs after being inserted by Super Kings skipper Faf du Plessis.
Allen faced 53 balls and hit nine fours and five sixes on his way to 101 and was supported well by Australian wicket-keeper/batsman Josh Inglis who hit 37 off 25 balls including two fours and a six.
Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad snagged 3-27 from his four overs for the Super Kings.
Then, despite unbeaten fifties from both Devon Conway and Joshua Tromp, TSK fell agonizingly short of a spot in the final, finishing 190-4 from their 20 overs.
Conway led the way with 62* off 38 balls including four fours and two sixes while Tromp hit five fours and two sixes on his way to a 36-ball 56*.
Captain du Plessis had earlier made 45 off 22 balls.
Conway and Tromp got together at 90-4 in the 10th over and tried their best with a 100-run partnership but the runs proved to be just enough for the Unicorns.
The Unicorns will now square off with the Washington Freedom in Sunday’s final, also being played at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
The pair met on Thursday in the qualifier where the Freedom chased down 146 in 15.3 overs to book their spot in the final.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
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