Be ready for a feast of Bazball, as England begin their summer of cricket with a one-off Test and ODI match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge. The Three Lions have an action-packed summer ahead of them, with the West Indies visiting them for three ODIS and three T20’s.
A mouthwatering five-Test series against India will then follow this up.
The Zimbabwe Test, which takes place on May 22, is their first in England since 2003. This was when legendary fast-bowler James Anderson made his Test debut for England.
The 2003 Series consisted of two Tests, which England won 2-0.
Zimbabwe have named a 15-man squad for the Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
Craig Ervine (captain), Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams
One To Watch: Sikanda Raza
The Pakistani-born All-rounder is the player to watch for the Zimbabweans in this Test. With
Since moving to Zimbabwe with his family at 16, the talented right-hander has transformed into one of the nation’s top players.
Ben Stokes (Durham) – captain, Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), James Rew (Somerset), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).
Root Hunting Down Dravid And Kallis
England’s premier batsman has been a top player for the nation over the past 13 years. With 12,972 runs to his name, he is just 256 runs from Rahul Dravid(Ind)’s record of 13,288 Test runs, and 257 away from South Africa legend Jacques.
Given England’s level of opposition, you wouldn’t put it against him to at least come close to achieving this landmark.
However, as India soon arrives for five Tests, he is more likely to achieve that feat in that Series.
One To Watch: Sam Cook
Stuart Broad and James Anderson announced their retirement in 2023 and 2024, respectively, so the search for their successors continues.
Gus Atkinson proved he could be a potential candidate by picking up 12 wickets in the three Tests in New Zealand.
While Durham’s Matthew Potts has had a decent start to his Test career, with 36 wickets in 10 matches, at an average of 29.44, and sa trike rate of 56.6
Essex’s Cook could be another candidate to fill the shoes of Broad and Anderson. His record in County Cricket speaks for itself: 318 wickets in 88 matches, an average of 19.77, and a strike rate of 44.9.
Cook, who is 27, offers the kind of skillset England wants from their bowlers, which is predominantly control.
Cook played for the England Lions on their tour of Australia, where he scored 8–3–15–4 and 26–10–47–4 in back-to-back games against Cricket Australia XI.
Can he impress on the international stage, if he gets the opportunity?
Can England kick off the summer with a victory against Zimbabwe?
Send us your thoughts on World In Sport.
