Ravi Bopara and Ottis Gibson may both be about to profit from Kevin Pietersen's absence - even if they do remain baffled by the limited-overs retirement of England's most gifted batsman.
Bopara can look forward to a clear run at the number four position in England's 50-over team which was once the preserve of Pietersen, who chose to end his one-day international career at the age of just 31 following back-to-back match-winning centuries as an opener.
West Indies coach Gibson knows an England line-up minus Pietersen - irrespective of whether Ian Bell or Bopara rises to the challenge - is inevitably less robust than it might have been for the forthcoming NatWest Series.
Bopara has obvious motivation as he seeks to convince England he is a viable option in the middle order, in Tests as well as ODIs, following a recent run of minor injuries which he acknowledges was not just frustrating but even "depressing".
As for Pietersen, it is no surprise that 27-year-old Bopara might have a different perspective on ditching the ODI option - still striving to establish himself as a regular, after 72 caps and just 12 in Tests.
"I do want to play for England, every opportunity I get," he said.
"I have missed a lot of cricket. I've done a lot of 12th man, I know that for sure. I just want to get in and cement my place."
England must look to him, Bell, Eoin Morgan et al to help carry them to a successful future without Pietersen in the World Cup format - starting in a three-match series against the Windies which gets under way at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday.
"Whatever Kev's decision, it's his choice," added Bopara.
"I'm sure he's making the right decision for himself.
"What we've got to do is concentrate on what we do. We've got some good players up there, players who can win you games and get big hundreds."
Gibson is quietly confident his team, bolstered since their 2-0 Test defeat by the arrival of destructive opener Chris Gayle and a clutch of other Indian Premier League stars, can make life tough for England.
A former pace bowler, and England advisor in that department, he is equivocal about Pietersen's controversial decision to retire.
"Nothing KP does takes me by surprise," he said.
"He is his own man and does what he wants to do whenever he wants to do it. That is his character.
"I am sort of surprised he is in such good form and chose to walk away from a format he likes ... it just seems like he doesn't want to play one-day cricket."
Gibson played only two Tests and 15 ODIs for West Indies, but famously capped his career by taking all 10 wickets in an innings for Durham only five years ago.
"I kept playing until I was 38, because I loved the game so much," he said.
"It is disappointing to see a great player walking away from the game at a young age. But he is his own man and he makes his own calls.
"He is so stubborn, so he probably won't come back. But when he is sitting at home watching on TV he might miss it."
Gibson likens Pietersen's absence to that of Gayle, who has been out of the Windies fold for more than a year because of a dispute with his employers.
"If you look at when Gayle has been away, we missed our best player," Gibson said.
"It is a big thing to lose your best player.
"KP has been good in the last two one-day series. They were trialling him at the top of the order, and it seemed it was going to work.
"It is going to be interesting, but I have been around the English system long enough to know there are a lot of good cricketers around."
There are several in the Windies ranks too, including a likely top seven who have hit 418 ODI sixes, to the 104 their opposite numbers have mustered to date.
Who is the mightiest then of the Windies big-hitters?
"They can all clear the boundary. But Gayle is the best one-day batsman in the world and most destructive," said Gibson, who knew how to deposit the ball into - and occasionally over - the stands himself in his day.
"My money will always be on him when it comes to hitting the biggest sixes."
Bopara chose not to mix it with Gayle in this year's IPL, having turned down - not for the first time - that tempting opportunity in favour of pressing his England claims at home.
He acknowledges the Windies opener's ability to make a mockery of the best bowlers, but senses a wet summer so far in England may not play to Gayle's strengths.
"He is a danger man," Bopara said.
"Whether he's as dangerous in these conditions, we'll have to find out - wait and see."
