Pope Takes Charge Against Zimbabwe
The men’s international summer began with a one-off four-day Test at Trent Bridge against Zimbabwe, who last toured England back in 2003. With a five-Test series against India to follow before a trip Down Under for the Ashes, it felt sure to be the gentlest of introductions back to top-level cricket. England took the opportunity to give a debut to Sam Cook, who took 43 wickets at 17.30 for Essex last summer and his 321 first-class wickets have come at just 19.85. There have been a few left-field picks by the England selectors of late, but few could quibble that the 27-year-old had earned his place in the side. Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine won the toss and chose to field first. Somewhat surprisingly, his side will play 11 Tests in 2025 – one more than England – so they were hoping to get off to a good start.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will face more challenging opening bowlers than Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani and they reached their fifty partnership after just 62 balls, and continued to take full advantage of anything loose. Duckett was the first to reach fifty, taking 47 balls to get there, before the pair completed their third hundred partnership off 123 balls. Crawley was making slower progress but still reached his fifty in 76 balls. At lunch, England were 130 without loss and they had looked very comfortable.
At the start of the afternoon session, Zimbabwe brought on off-spinner Sikandar Raza in the hope he could stem the run rate, but even he struggled to begin with. The 150 partnership was reached after 179 balls, and in so doing the pair set a new record for the highest partnership for any wicket for England against Zimbabwe. Duckett then went to his fifth Test century (and his first at his home ground) off exactly 100 balls. He nearly fell immediately afterwards, almost drilling one to mid-wicket. The 200 partnership came up after 227 balls, as the pair accelerated. When Duckett smashed the off-spin of Wesley Madhevere into the stands to take him to 140, he had set a new record score for an England batter against Zimbabwe. But next ball he mistimed one into the covers where Ben Curran took a simple catch: 231 for one.
Ollie Pope came out to bat with some pressure on his shoulders, with Jacob Bethell (currently playing in the IPL) a potential replacement in the side. He showed no signs of it, though, racing to 21 off his first ten balls. At tea, England were 295 for one after just 53 overs, and the game already felt totally one-sided.
Straight after the break, Pope went to fifty off 48 balls and not long after Crawley completed his fifth Test century off 145 balls and his first since July 2023. The hundred partnership came up off only 105 balls, with Pope scoring 74 of them. If the bowling was too full, Crawley would crunch them through the off side, while if they went short Pope would cut and pull; it was relentless. Out of nowhere, Raza struck as Crawley missed his sweep shot and was trapped in front on 124: 368 for two. Joe Root came out to bat needing 28 more runs to become only the fifth player to reach 13,000 Test runs, but first Pope reached three figures off 109 balls – it was his eighth Test century and his third (in consecutive matches) in Nottingham. It meant that, for only the fourth time in history, England’s top three had all scored centuries (with the same triumvirate doing it against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in 2022-23; Strauss, Cook and Trott doing it in 2010-11 against Australia in Brisbane; and Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Woolley against South Africa at Lord’s way back in 1924).
Root duly reached his 13,000-run landmark with a nudge to square leg, but it was Pope who was catching the eye as he sprayed it all over the ground. The score was 453 for two when the new ball was taken immediately it became available, and was despatched to the boundary by Root first ball. Pope went past Duckett’s score earlier in the day to make it one of the shortest-lived records. Pope brought up his 150 in only 142 balls, and also the century partnership in just 95 balls. With 22 runs scored off the first seven deliveries with the new ball, Zimbabwe looked in even greater trouble, but then Root pulled Muzurabani down to fine leg where he was caught by Sean Williams: 479 for three, and by that stage England had already achieved the highest score made by either side in the history of this fixture. At the close, England were 498 for three, with Pope on 169 and Harry Brook on 9; it was the sixth most runs ever scored in a day of Test cricket, and the second most ever scored on the first day (just behind England’s own record of 506 for four at Rawalpindi in 2022-23).
The second day began in lovely sunshine, but early on Pope gave a fine edge off Lance Chivanga and was out for 171. Brook began to motor, hitting Muzurabani for two sixes, but was then dropped on the third man boundary by the sub fielder (on for the injured Ngarava). Ben Stokes made just 9, undone by a bouncer from Muzurabani that he skied down to fine leg, where Ben Curran took a good catch. Wicket-keeper Tafadzwa Tsiga put down a decent chance off new bat Jamie Smith, before Brook went to fifty with a six, taking just 48 balls to get there. Two balls later, now on 58, he got an inside edge off Muzurabani and England declared on 565 for six. England had got there at 5.85 runs per over – the third fastest 500-plus score in Test history. Remarkably, all of the top five fastest scores of 500 or more have been made by England since 2022-23, in the Bazball era.
Brian Bennett removed any early nerves by hitting the first over, from Cook, for three boundaries. But in his third over, Cook found the edge of Curran, who was well caught by Brook. There were no more wickets to fall by lunch, and Zimbabwe went into the break on 73 for one off 16 overs.
Bennett and Ervine brought up the fifty partnership off 85 balls, but then Shoaib Bashir delivered a beauty that drifted in and then turned away from left-hander Ervine, who edged to Brook to fall for 42. It was a lovely way to bring up 50 wickets in his Test career, and he was the youngest England bowler to reach the landmark, at 21 years and 222 days. Bennett went to fifty off 56 balls with a crunching cover drive. Sean Williams, who made his international debut way back in 2005, kept him company as the pair added fifty in 60 balls. Not long after, Williams got an inside edge to Bashir and was bowled for 25. Bashir dropped a caught and bowled chance off Raza, and had to come off after injuring his finger in the attempt, so Stokes finished the over. With his first legitimate delivery, Bennett edged him to Root, who dropped a very regulation chance. Bennett reached his century with a flurry of boundaries off Gus Atkinson, getting to the landmark in just 97 balls – the quickest hundred in history for Zimbabwe, and the second quickest ever at Trent Bridge, behind Jonny Bairstow. Raza’s escape didn’t last long, as Stokes bowled a beauty to find the edge through to Smith. Madhevere followed quickly as he inside-edged Stokes onto his stumps to fall without scoring. At tea it was 210 for five.
Zimbabwe’s progress appeared to have been halted when Josh Tongue dug one in at Bennett, who fended it off his hip, only for Pope to take a superb, full-length diving catch at short leg to remove him for 139 – except it was a no-ball. One suspects, having watched how he played, it won’t be long before the 21-year-old gets a call from a county side to come and join them. The reprieve didn’t last long as the same combination soon accounted for him. Bashir then bowled Tsiga through the gate. Atkinson trapped Tanaka Chivanga in front for 2 and then bowled Muzurabani for 12 to complete the innings, with Ngarava unable to bat and his side all out for 265.
England decided to enforce the follow-on, and quickly removed Bennett, who was LBW to Atkinson for 1 – out twice in the day for very contrasting scores. Then, also for the second time in the day, Pope moved to short leg and the next ball took a catch off Tongue. This time it was a legitimate delivery and Ervine was also on his way back to the pavilion having made 2. At 7 for two, Zimbabwe were in a mess, but they got to the close on 30 for two, with Williams having scored 22 off just 11 deliveries.
After two lovely days, the weather on the third day was much more overcast, with a forecast of rain. Stokes opened the bowling and soon had a chance when Curran drilled one back to him, but he put it down. Curran and Williams completed their fifty partnership in just 50 balls. Williams went to fifty with a lovely drive through mid-off off 42 balls. The hundred partnership followed in 120 balls. Bashir thought he’d got Curran LBW, but the DRS review from the batter showed the ball narrowly going over the top. Soon after, he hit Williams on the pad as he tried a sweep; again the finger went up; again the batter reviewed, but this time it was just clipping the top of leg stump and Williams was out for 88 off 82. At lunch it was 141 for three.
Straight after the break, Curran drove to extra cover and was caught by Stokes off Bashir, out for 37. Cook, whose strength looks very much to be line and length, tried a few shorter ones, but was easily picked off – his lack of pace suggests that while he might be an effective pick in home conditions, he probably shouldn’t be seen as an obvious candidate for touring. Raza and Madhevere added fifty in 50 balls, and then brought up the 200 to great cheers. Stokes decided it was time to bring himself back and he got one to fly off the edge of Madhevere (on 31) to Brook, who leapt into the air, stretched out his right hand and took an astonishing catch that even Stokes could barely believe: 207 for five. Tsiga then charged past one from Bashir and was bowled through the gate. Raza went to fifty off 57 balls. Muzurabani lofted his second ball into the deep where Root took a straightforward catch off Bashir. Raza was next to go, top-edging to slip, to fall for 60 and give Bashir his fourth five-wicket haul. Bashir then finished it off when Chivanga was plumb in front. Zimbabwe were all out for 255, and Bashir had six for 81, the best figures of his career. England had won by an innings and 45 runs.
So the game was completed inside eight sessions, and did provide some lessons as well as a useful run-out ahead of tougher challenges for the England team. Although outclassed, Zimbabwe contributed to an entertaining game, and played with real positivity throughout. Their fans, mostly kitted out in national colours, turned up in large numbers and brought massive enthusiasm to the players. I hope it won’t be another 22 years until they return.
For England, Crawley and Pope both delivered centuries when they needed to. Bashir, who bowled plenty of loose stuff, also bowled some terrific deliveries and commented after the game how the environment made him feel ‘ten-foot tall’ – not bad for Somerset’s second-choice spinner, and another credit to Stokes’s captaincy. Among the seamers, Stokes himself looked strong, which will be vital for the year ahead. Atkinson had a relatively quiet match, while Tongue and Cook might have hoped to do more to suggest that they should be first-choice picks when the India series begins on 20 June.
