With everything else being asked of Andy Murray, the prospect of him engaging in a concerted effort to provide Great Britain with the base upon which to mount a serious Davis Cup challenge is not foremost in the pecking order. Only this year - for the first time - has Roger Federer decided to take Switzerland's chance of winning the trophy really seriously.

Those who are marking Murray down for his inaugural grand-slam title - something The Times first burdened him with after he was beaten in five breathtaking sets by Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open - have multiplied in number and there is good reason to believe that the British No1 will be in the thick of three, maybe all four, of the challenges this year. If he was to prioritise his dreams for 2009, winning against Ukraine in Glasgow in March might not spring immediately to mind.

But ask the LTA where it would like to be this time next year and “back in the Davis Cup World Group” would be high on the wish-list. No one likes to be patronised for having pots of money and only Europe/Africa Zone ties upon which to spend it - all those first-class seats and all those second-class international matches to stage.

Even then, home ties have not exactly been a forte. Of the past four on British soil, the record is won two, lost two and the most recent time the team experienced the satisfaction of a 5-0 home triumph, Portugal were the opposition at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham in 2001.

Would it not be nice to have something similar to savour again and Ukraine ought to be ripe for the picking. But that requires a second singles player who can win two matches - even one victory would be something to cherish. Who might that person be?

John Lloyd, the Britain captain, has less than two months to make up his mind. We are about to enter a frenzied six-week trial period, with at least seven players vying for one spot - for Lloyd has made it clear that he will not select a squad with the safeguard of a doubles team in mind, a situation that blew up in his face embarrassingly against Austria at Wimbledon in September, when the Murray brothers were parted.

Alex Bogdanovic, starting the new year on the back of ten straight losses and without a win in six live rubbers, surely cannot be resurrected, unless he qualifies for the Australian Open this month, plays out of his skin and wins a couple of rounds.

Lloyd could decide to make a brave call and ask Jamie Baker to throw off the effects of a debilitating blood disorder that has left him desperately short of matches.

Of the others, only Chris Eaton and Josh Goodall have played a best-of-five-sets match, both having qualified for a grand-slam tournament - Eaton has the narrow advantage of winning a round at Wimbledon and demonstrating no inhibitions in doing so. The 21-year-old from Surrey has not uprooted trees since his flashy showing last summer, but has been working hard at the National Training Centre in Roehampton, southwest London, under the guidance of Louis Cayer, the coaching guru. Goodall's ranking rose more than 150 spots last year, he won two ATP Tour Futures titles and would be the most unfortunate to be overlooked after his consistency of the past two years.

Bogdanovic, Goodall, Alexander Slabinsky and James Ward are at a Challenger event in New Caledonia this week and head from there to Melbourne for the Australian Open qualifying event - a tournament within a tournament in British eyes. “I'm going to be looking for those who I consider will be at home in a team environment, who will want to show their face in this kind of situation,” Lloyd said.

It is possible that Daniel Evans, the teenager from Birmingham, whose funding was stopped after being caught out after hours last year during the Wimbledon junior competition, will be called in. Evans was ranked at No1,010 when the punishment kicked in; by the end of the year, he had risen more than 500 places and won three tournaments - one of them in Glasgow. “There are a couple of guys who have just come out of the juniors who have given themselves a chance,” Lloyd said. Choosing Evans really would be the prodigal son restored.