Many of the England squad about to arrive in Bangladesh, either for three one-day internationals or two Tests, will know this is only the beginning of this year's arduous sub-continent trial.
They will know too that, tricky though the opening exchanges in Dhaka and Chittagong are likely to be, their task is only going to get harder when they move on for five Tests in India before Christmas.
There, England must hope their quandaries with the bat can be solved at the top of the order and number four - and still more so that their spin resources can somehow match the ominous threat posed by Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
India's two finger spinners, one hugely accomplished right-arm with a touch of mystery and the other a dangerous and slippery left-arm orthodox, have already proved formidable against New Zealand at the start of their team's home campaign this winter.
England, of course, cannot afford to start stressing about them yet.
They must rise to the challenge awaiting them in Bangladesh first, where success against spin in both formats may engender some much-needed self-belief.
Conversely, a stutter before the sternest test is even under way would shred confidence long before they arrive in Mumbai in early November.
What then of England's initial prospects?
They could be forgiven for feeling already that much mental energy has been expended on the subject of Bangladesh.
The one-day specialists will be led by an unaccustomed captain, in Jos Buttler - deputising for Eoin Morgan after the Irishman and opener Alex Hales opted out of the tour on security grounds.
The terror attack in a Dhaka cafe in July left England pondering long and hard, collectively and individually, over the feasibility of fulfilling the scheduled tour.
A week-long fact-finding mission was followed by a security briefing for the players - and even then, only after a further two-week delay while England were playing limited-overs series at home to Pakistan under Morgan, was it confirmed all but their captain and their record-breaking opening batsman were on board.
Apart from the specific consequences of those key absences, it will be a feat for England to ensure the inevitably constrained atmosphere inside their door-to-door, ring-of-steel security does not follow them on to the pitch.
Whether it does or not, solutions must be found quickly in at least three key areas of tactical deployment.
The uncapped Ben Duckett may be the answer to the vacancy left by Hales in both formats.
It will be a gamble to back either the adventurous left-hander - against white ball or red - or, when the Tests begin, the equally untried teenager Haseeb Hameed.
The two youngsters could hardly have more contrasting styles - and depending which of them is selected to become Alastair Cook's latest partner for the first Test in Chittagong, after a pair of two-day warm-up matches, England will be committed to a variant gameplan.
If Duckett gets the nod - ahead of Moeen Ali or James Vince, for example - to open with Jason Roy in the 50-over matches and is successful, he may have the advantage in his 'bat-off' with Hameed.
Multiple ifs and buts will enter and exit the equation, of course - including Duckett's preference and brilliance as a number three batsman rather than an opener in white-ball cricket.
By the time Cook arrives for the first Test after the birth of his second child, however, England must have cut their cloth and be ready to either attack with Duckett or sit in with Hameed against the new ball.
They then know at least who will bat at number three, linchpin Joe Root back to do so after his short rest during the ODIs.
But the fall of one more wicket brings the next conundrum.
After Vince's struggles throughout last summer, England do not have a Test number four - and will again have to make a telling choice between the stoicism of Gary Ballance or the strokeplay of others, such as Duckett away from his usual position or Moeen shunted up into yet another new role.
Unless the eventual option backfires spectacularly, it is likely to endure in the squad and then team chosen to take on India too - because there is precious little time for an effective rethink.
Bangladesh have demonstrated many times, to England's cost at the 2015 World Cup, that they are highly capable limited-overs opponents.
They have yet to beat anyone other than Zimbabwe or West Indies in Tests, and England have won all eight matches against them home and away.
Bangladesh have been inactive in the pinnacle format for more than 12 months, since the monsoon-wrecked drawn series at home to South Africa, and will also be without their injured rising star Mustafizur Rahman.
England will not have to face the brilliant left-arm seamer, but they have plenty more issues to address if they are to have a successful 'warm-up' campaign before India.
Source: PA
