That’s it from us. Thanks for your company, correspondence and jokes about Blessing and Pope. The OBO will be back in the morning, and so will Ollie Pope – as long as Ben Stokes doesn’t declare overnight.
Zak Crawley is giving an interview. In England’s practice kit, black shorts and a purple sweatshirt, he looks more laid-back than ever. Next to Ian Ward, he looks even taller than usual.
“Fantastic to score a Test hundred,” he says, “and great for the team as well. With Ben playing as well as he did, I didn’t feel a heap of pressure. and then Popey played the same way… Always want a big score, disappointed when I got out, more runs were there for the taking.
“You obviously know that you’re under pressure but I just want to play well, find some rhythm – I love batting. The wickets haven’t been great for Kent, I’ve actually felt in decent touch for a couple of months now… I’ve been trying to stand a little bit taller, not trying to overhit the ball.”
Ward asks him about Adam Hollioake, Kent’s new coach. “I’ve loved having Smokey around,” Crawley says with a smile. “He’s a great guy and he gets you competing a bit more and that’s something I want to do as well, trying to win games for my team.”
Stumps! England have to settle for 498
88th over: England 498-3 (Pope 169, Brook 9) The last over falls to Chivanga, who does pretty well, varying his length and restricting Pope to a single. Brook adds a leg glance for four but England can’t quite make 500. Despite this failure, they’ve just about had the better of the day. All the top three made hundreds, with Duckett leading the way, Crawley taking his time and Pope having a ball.
Updated
87th over: England 492-3 (Pope 168, Brook 5) Muzarabani is the latest bowler to die the death of Ollie Pope’s cuts. This one is especially brutal, ringing out like a rifle shot and, as Stuart Broad notes, giving the fielders no time to move.
England haven’t hit 500 in a day in a home Test, Nasser says, since 1924. Will there be one more over so they can have a go? There will.
Updated
86th over: England 486-3 (Pope 163, Brook 4) Nyauchi gives way to Tanaka Chivanga. Pope inside-edges an on-drive for a single, then Brook plays a push past cover for two.
85th over: England 483-3 (Pope 162, Brook 2) Muzarabani, still getting good bounce, keeps Harry Brook quiet. Stuart Broad is analysing his action: “Can he gets those arms pumping, bring a bit more energy to the load-up?” Nasser Hussain is just praising him: “Excellent set.”
83rd over: England 479-3 (Pope 161, Brook 0) Each England partnership has been smaller than the one before: 231 by Crawley and Duckett, 137 by Crawley and Pope, and a mere 111 by Pope and Root. It took them 17.3 overs, so they rattled along at better than a run a ball, unlike the others.
WICKET! Root c Williams b Muzarabani 34 (England 479-3)
Blessing strikes! He produces a sparky lifter which Root tries to pull off the front foot. A top edge sails high into the air and lands safely in the hands of Sean Williams at long leg.
Updated
82nd over: England 476-2 (Pope 159, Root 33) After hitting three fours off the first over of the new ball, what do you do with the second? If you’re Ollie Pope in this mood, you flick a big inswinger for six. He didn’t even middle it. That makes 22 off the first seven deliveries with the new ball, but Nyauchi keeps calm and carries on and restricts Pope to a single off the rest of this over.
150 to Pope!
81st over: England 469-2 (Pope 152, Root 33) The new ball is available and Craig Ervine takes it right away, hoping it goes better than the one his bowlers were given this morning. But the batters seemed to be limbering up for it just now and sure enough the first delivery, from Muzarabani, is cut for four by Root. The fourth is cover-driven for four by Pope, with one hand off the bat. The fifth is upper-cut for four more as Pope crouches craftily to get under the bounce. And the sixth is on-driven for yet another four, to take Pope past 150. It’s carnage.
Updated
80th over: England 453-2 (Pope 141, Root 28) A tuck off the hip takes Joe Root to yet another milestone: 13,000 runs in Tests. He’s the first Englishman to do it and the fifth man in all, joining Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis and Dravid. All but Tendulkar are withijn Root’s reach: he needs 400 runs to go second on the list.
That single hands the strike to Pope, who celebrates with three fours.
79th over: England 440-2 (Pope 129, Root 27) Blessing Muzarabani is fit to resume, though he may regret it. Pope gets a jammy four, trickling away off the toe of the bat, and follows it with a handsome one, driven on the up through the covers.
Updated
78th over: England 430-2 (Pope 120, Root 26) Just one run from the bat, and a leg-bye, off this over from Raza. He alone has kept the run rate below four.
77th over: England 428-2 (Pope 120, Root 25) Pope plays an on-drive off Nyauchi that could go straight into a coaching video. Trent Bridge, too, is a picture – pale blue sky, soft white clouds, green-and-brown outfield.
76th over: England 423-2 (Pope 116, Root 24) The Zimbabweans are dying the death of a thousand cuts. Pope, facing Raza, plays another one with fast hands and gets four for it. Then he almost runs Joe Root out, sending him back and seeing him put in a full-length dive. Root doesn’t seem too bothered: as grandees of the game go, he’s not at all grand.
75th over: England 417-2 (Pope 111, Root 23) Back comes Victor Nyauchi, who put in a hard shift either side of tea. He does well now, going for just a single even though Pope, in party mode now, dances down the track to him.
74th over: England 416-2 (Pope 110, Root 23) Raza goes back to conceding singles. He’s been much the best bowler.
This is the fourth time that England’s top three have all scored hundreds in the same Test innings. In their first 133 years of Tests, they managed it only once – Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Woolley agaunst South Africa at Lord’s in 1934. In 2020-11 they were joined by Strauss, Cook and Trott, saving the day at Brisbane and paving the way for an Ashes win. Twelve years later, Crawley, Duckett and Pope did it against Pakistan at Rawalpindi. And now they’ve done it again. London buses, basically.
73rd over: England 411-2 (Pope 108, Root 20) Even Joe Root is going at a run a ball. Facing Bennett, he plays a delicious little dab for four.
“If they want to keep going,” says Adrian Muldrew, “England’s biggest Test innings and biggest innings win could both be possible. As you know, Tim, the current records were both set at the Oval in 1938. But don’t ask Sam Cook, because by his own admission he don’t know much about history.” Ha.
72nd over: England 402-2 (Pope 104, Root 15) And the 400 comes up too.
A hundred to Pope!
Facing Raza, Pope dances onto the back foot and cuts for four to go to a sparkling hundred. His 103 has come off just 109 balls with 14 fours and a six, flicked over deep square.
Updated
71st over: England 396-2 (Pope 99, Root 14) Ervine, finally showing some creativity as a captain, replaces one occasional off-spinner (Madhevere) with another (Brian Bennett). Pope saunters to 99 with a late cut.
Updated
69th over: England 389-2 (Pope 93, Root 13) Muzabarani went off the field after bowling that over, so Craig Ervine turns back to Wessly Madhevere’s occasional offbreaks, which went for a flurry of runs earlier while also seeing off Ben Duckett. He drops short now and gets cut for four by Root, for four by Pope, and for two by Pope, who is now in the nerveless 90s.
68th over: England 377-2 (Pope 88, Root 6) After leaking a few singles. Raza tries going round the wicket. Pope counters with a punchy push towards mid-on, which Raza himself does well to stop with a dive.
67th over: England 373-2 (Pope 86, Root 4) Blessing Muzarabani returns and Root brings out his signature shot, the square force that doesn’t seem to involve any force at all.
Meanwhile a dry email has come in from Paul Haynes. “England,” he says, “are down to the bowlers, then.”
66th over: England 369-2 (Pope 85, Root 1) You’re a highly inexperienced touring team. You’ve finally managed to take a second wicket. And who do you find coming in? Joe Root. He gets off the mark with a dab on the off side.
WICKET! Crawley LBW b Raza 124 (England 368-2)
Crawley sweeps, misses and is given out! It looks pretty plumb. He reviews, thinking it might have hit him outside the line, but it’s three reds and he has to go. He departs to a standing ovation after putting together a hundred that was almost old-school.
Updated
65th over: England 368-1 (Crawley 124, Pope 85) Crawley takes a single off Chivanga and again pulls up lame, though he’s got a rueful smile on his face. Pope gets a gift on his hips and swats it for four with one-hand.
Updated
64th over: England 363-1 (Crawley 123, Pope 81) Crawley calls for the physio, who makes him lie down, does some poking and prodding, and clears him to continue.
“I do struggle with the criticism Crawley gets,” says Tom Barrington, “and this isn’t just because he has got a 100 today, but I think the benefits of his partnership with Duckett at the top of the order outweigh the drawbacks of his patchy form. Yes the average is poor but against high quality opposition (Australia and India) he has become consistent, and the threat of him scoring heavily at the top of the order often puts teams on the back foot against England. He has become a central part of one of the main positives of this current era in finding an opening partnership! Opener is a precarious position, and they are always at risk of a low score facing the new ball, so why not stick with someone who can change the game?
“I will grant that he should be dropped whenever Matt Henry plays against us as he simply cannot play him, rarely have I seen an international sportsman at sea as much as that match-up down in NZ over the winter.”
Updated
63rd over: England 359-1 (Crawley 121, Pope 79) Crawley is enjoying the extra pace of Chivanga, cover-driving for four – but hang on, now he’s inside-edged onto his hip and hurt himself. As he plays a chip over mid-off and runs two, he’s limping and wincing, but he’s not coming off.
Updated
62nd over: England 352-1 (Crawley 115, Pope 79) Raza is still on, though I think he’s just picked up a warning for following through on the line of the stumps. When he drops short, Pope plays that fast-hands cut of his and Wellington Masakadza, on as a sub, makes a fine tumbling stop to save two.
61st over: England 346-1 (Crawley 113, Pope 75) Respite at last for Victor Nyauchi, who takes his sweater with the unflattering figures of 13-0-74-0. Back comes Tanaka Chivanga, who is faster and therefore probably more to Crawley’s taste. An innocent enough ball goes for four as Crawley’s crisp drive induces a misfield at mid-off. An attempted bouncer goes way wide of leg stump and ends up as five wides. And then a long hop is cut for two. Do you think Craig Ervine may regret putting England in?
60th over: England 335-1 (Crawley 107, Pope 75) Raza continues too, with the spinner’s version of a Variety Pack, and concedes three singles.
Hundred partnership for Pope and Crawley
59th over: England 332-1 (Crawley 105, Pope 74) Poor old Nyauchi continues, making you wonder if he said something to annoy Craig Ervine at the team dinner. Pope plays a glide for two past slip to bring up the hundred partnership off only 17.4 overs.
58th over: England 328-1 (Crawley 104, Pope 71) Crawley has been the junior partner in both these partnerships, unusually for him, but now he lets go and plays a reverse sweep off Raza, which goes for three.
Here’s Will Vignoles, picking up on the interesting line taken by David Reynolds (15:55 below). “Can’t help thinking,” Will says, “that were England to do as David Reynolds suggested, the response would be to castigate them for not showing the sort of ruthlessness that the best teams demonstrate when faced with limited opposition. What are they supposed to do, not hit bad balls for four? That seems like a perfect way to get yourself in a tangle to me.
“Anyway, it’s lovely to have Test cricket back and thanks as ever for the OBO!” Our pleasure.
57th over: England 322-1 (Crawley 100, Pope 69) Pope gives Crawley a hug and then gets on with trying to upstage him, flicking the very next ball from Nyauchi for a nonchalant six.
A hundred to Crawley!
And he gets there with a leading edge as a push to mid-on ends up popping into the covers. Fortune favours the cautious. It’s been a careful innings, understandably, as Crawley has been in awful form for England (barely a run in New Zealand) and Kent (not many more). It has come off 145 balls with 12 fours, some of them sumptuous.
Updated
56th over: England 313-1 (Crawley 99, Pope 61) Sikandar Raza, our man with the plug, shoves it in again. Just a single to each batter.
55th over: England 311-1 (Crawley 98, Pope 60) No change at the other end either, so poor old Nyauchi has to carry on trundling in while digesting his cucumber sandwiches. It doesn’t go well. Pope greets him with two savage blows, an upper cut and a flat pull, and then Crawley plays a lordly cover drive, as if facing the first ball of a series from Pat Cummins.
Updated
54th over: England 298-1 (Crawley 94, Pope 51) Raza continues after getting the plug in before tea. Pope clips him into the leg side to reach 50 for the 23rd time in 56 Tests. It took him just 48 balls: he set off like a rocket before slowing down, as so often happens, even in this free-scoring era.
Updated
The players are out there, and so is the sun.
“As a former Harare resident,” says Mark Hooper, “I hope the Zimbabweans don’t get too disheartened by this. A few moments of great fielding (and some great takes by Tafadzwa Tsiga) feel like small comfort at the moment…”
And here’s a lateral thought. “Wouldn’t this be a good time,” wonders David Reynolds, “for England to practise, hone – and in some cases learn for the first time – the skill of batting patiently for five, six session of a Test match, rather than sadistically emphasise what we already know, which is their dreary ability when possible of bludgeoning the opposition (one is reminded of an unseemly absence of self-restraint in Amstelveen). What is the benefit of building up this first innings total so quickly? Take the time available.”
Point taken, but wouldn’t that be drearier still?
“British Embassy staff in Harare following this one carefully,” says Peter Thomas, “with some conflicted loyalties... will it even last four days? Our ambo in the crowd today.” Love it. Hope the ambo is enjoying the ambience.
“Fairly leisurely progress for England on a comfortable May afternoon in Nottingham,” says Rob Lewis. “Here in Turkey, we are feeling comfy as there hasn’t been an earthquake today. We were rocked in our beds a couple of nights ago, but it was only a 4.0 on the whatever the new scale is called. So it didn’t even trouble the scorers.”
We’ve got mail! “Hi Tim,” says Gareth Wilson. “Re 5 dot balls making a maiden… given that feels very Hundred-y, may I suggest it should be called a KP Nuts ShutOut?” Ha.
Tea: England cruising again
53rd over: England 295-1 (Crawley 93, Pope 49) Nyauchi strays onto Pope’s hip, handing him a freebie which he’s not in the mood to miss out on. Crawley, after taking a few overs off, comes back to the party with an airy cut for two. The pair of them walk off chatting and smiling, the friendliest of rivals.
And that’s tea, with England cruising again after losing Duckett.
52nd over: England 287-1 (Crawley 90, Pope 44) Raza drops short to Pope, who cashes in with a cut for four. The partnership is already 56.
51st over: England 283-1 (Crawley 90, Pope 40) Nyauchi is bustling in as if he hasn’t even noticed the scoreboard. And he bowls five dots! In the circumstances, that should count as a maiden.
50th over: England 282-1 (Crawley 90, Pope 39) A false shot! Well, half-false. Pope plays a paddle and finds the ball from Raza bouncing more than he expected. There’s a top edge but it lands safely on the parched brown outfield.
Updated
49th over: England 279-1 (Crawley 90, Pope 36) Ervine gives Muzarabani a breather and brings back Victor Nyauchi, the only seamer on the right side of five an over. He’s done it by bowling outside off with a bit of inswing and he sticks with that plan now, going for just four singles.
If you’ve never written into the OBO, now would be a good time.
Updated
48th over: England 275-1 (Crawley 88, Pope 34) Raza does it again, restricting these two to a single apiece. After going for 4.44 an over, he is now the thriftiest bowler of the day.
47th over: England 273-1 (Crawley 87, Pope 33) Muzarabani continues, toiling away on a day when no seamer has yet taken a wicket. Crawley, sensing that it’s been too long since we had a boundary, produces a front-foot pull that is somewhere between dismissive and regal.
46th over: England 266-1 (Crawley 82, Pope 31) Craig Ervine decides that Wessly Madhevere has done his job, so he comes off with the unusual analysis of 2-0-22-1. The move works as Sikandar Raza, bowling round-arm, restores order. Just two singles off the over.
Updated
45th over: England 264-1 (Crawley 81, Pope 30) Pope switches to the front foot to drive Muzarabani through the covers, his hands as quick as his feet. And then he gets a bouncer, jumps back and flashes it over the slips for four more.
The run rate in the last ten overs has been 8.3. We need to see the look on Geoffrey Boycott’s face.
44th over: England 255-1 (Crawley 80, Pope 22) Pope stays in the fast lane, cutting Madhevere for four. I’m getting the impression that in the three hours Pope spent waiting to bat, Stokes and McCullum were muttering about the run rate being too slow.
43rd over: England 248-1 (Crawley 78, Pope 17) This could be a showdown between Crawley and Pope for one place in the next Test, with Jacob Bethell expected to return. And Pope is rising to the challenge. He helps himself to two fours and two twos off this over from Muzarabani and races to 17 off nine balls, as if hell-bent on catching Crawley up before tea.
Updated
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. Game on!
Time for me to hand over to the great Tim de Lisle for the rest of the day. Thanks as always for your company, ta-ra.
Updated
41st over: England 236-1 (Crawley 78, Pope 5) The new batter Ollie Pope survives a pretty big LBW appeal first ball. It was missing leg but for a few seconds but his heartbeat must have been a drum-and-bass track. He gets off the mark with a crisp boundary through point next ball.
Updated
WICKET! England 231-1 (Duckett c Curran b Madhevere 140)
The offspinner Wessly Madhevere strikes in his first over! Duckett smashed his first two balls for four and six, and was targeting plenty more when he slapped the next delivery straight to Ben Curran at cover. Duckett is frustrated with himself but walks off to a fine ovation from his home crowd. He played a joyful innings: 140 from 134 balls with 20 fours and two sixes.
Updated
41st over: England 221-0 (Crawley 78, Duckett 130) The longer this opening partnership goes on, the trickier things get for Ollie Pope – not just because of Crawley’s runs, but because England may want to declare tonight and that would mean starting his innings in fourth gear. Pope is a selfless cricketer, probably to a fault, so there’s no chance he’ll look after No3. But he may need to take more risks at the start of his innings than he would like.
Blessing Muzarabani, the pick of the bowlers this morning, returns for his third spell of the day. The non-striker Duckett steals a quick single, with the fielder’s swoop and throw missing the stumps anyway.
“When I was a kid I read an article about Bradman scoring 300 in a day at Headingley, which ended by saying something like ‘Not only had it not happened before in Test cricket, it will never happen again,” writes Nath Jones. “Obviously the long-forgotten journo didn’t foresee Ben Duckett.”
What do you mean long-forgotten? Selve was proud of that piece!
40th over: England 218-0 (Crawley 77, Duckett 128) Poor Chivanga is really struggling to control his line. The first ball after the drinks break flies down the leg side, far, far away, for four more byes. When he overcompensates on the off side, Crawley times a picture-perfect drive to the cover boundary. I’d imagine there are some people who hate Crawley so much that they can’t even appreciate the beauty of his cover drive; and that, dear readers, is what hatred is bad.
39th over: England 208-0 (Crawley 71, Duckett 128) Four more to Duckett, blootered through the covers off Raza. Time for drinks.
Now, to business. This is only the sixth time in Tests that a team have reached 200 for 0 in the first innings after being asked to bat first. Surprise, surprise, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were responsible for three of the previous five. Two were in the same series against New Zealand in 2001-02 (the greatest 0-0 draw in Test history, since you asked).
The others were both for South Africa: Gibbs and Smith v West Indies in 2004, Elgar and Markram v Bangladesh in 2017.
Opening partnership passes 200
38th over: England 204-0 (Crawley 71, Duckett 124) A loose delivery from Chivanga flies down the leg side for four byes, then Duckett pushes a single to bring up his second opening partnership of 200 or more with Crawley. Zimbabwe won the toss and put England in, though Ben Stokes said he would have done the same.
Chivanga decides to try a slower ball. Duckett picks it and carts the ball back over his head for three.
Updated
37th over: England 194-0 (Crawley 69, Duckett 120) Duckett gets a leading edge off Raza that teases mid-on before dropping short. He has almost played a shot a ball since reaching his century. And why not.
36th over: England 191-0 (Crawley 67, Duckett 119) Tanaka Chivanga, whose four-over spell this morning was a mixture of fine deliveries and minor filth, returns to the attack. A hint of width allows Duckett to pummel four more through the covers, a shot he raises later in the over with a stunning pull for six. The ball from Chivanga really wasn’t that short but Duckett jumped all over it.
While nobody of sound mind would call Duckett a flat-track bully, in his short Test career he has really cashed in against teams outside the established top nine. He made 182 against Ireland in 2023 and is flying again today.
“Told you,” says John Starbuck. “The extra Zim bowler was obviously insurance. Maybe England should adopt this as a strategy, given the number of bowlers who keep getting crocked. Is it time to beg the ICC to allow full subs for bowlers and batters? Think how journalists could write them up the way they do football managers’ strategies.”
John, I love you but the answer’s no. No. A Sexy Beast no.
Updated
35th over: England 181-0 (Crawley 67, Duckett 109) “Ngazara?” sniffs Richard O’Hagan of my typo at 13:58. “Are you making hybrid cricketers now? If so, I’d like a combination of David Gower’s languid grace on all surfaces and Ben Stokes’ hitting power. We can call him Gowkes.”
How about a quick bowler with Robin Jackman’s accuracy and Brydon Carse’s muscular threat? We can call him Robin Jacka-
Never mind.
34th over: England 178-0 (Crawley 67, Duckett 108) A couple of close shaves for Duckett. He smashes a pull over midwicket for four – in the air but past the leaping Raza – then mistimes a stiff-wristed push that loops just short of Nyauchi.
The rapidly growing perception that Duckett is in a hurry is reinforced when he pings four more off the pads. For those of you who were frozen in time four years ago, an England opener is 108 not out from 106 balls and it is entirely normal.
Ben Duckett makes a 100-ball century
33rd over: England 169-0 (Crawley 67, Duckett 100) Duckett works another single to reach a fine, typically creative century at exactly a run a ball. He’s hit 15 fours, all round the park, and will fancy a few more. As will Crawley, who forces Raza stylishly through backward square leg for his ninth four.
Updated
32nd over: England 164-0 (Crawley 63, Duckett 99) Duckett moves closer to his fifth Test hundred by clipping Nyauchi for three. Later in the over he misses a lusty drive outside off stump, smiles puckishly and then collects a single to keep strike. One more.
31st over: England 159-0 (Crawley 62, Duckett 95) Duckett skids back in his crease to clatter Raza between cover and extra cover for four, a perfectly placed stroke. In this form Duckett could find the gap in a refutation.
30th over: England 151-0 (Crawley 59, Duckett 90) Duckett moves into the nineties with a dab behind square for two, a shot that also brings up the 150 partnership. The last time two England openers added 150 in a home Test was 10 years ago, Alastair Cook and Adam Lyth against New Zealand at Headingley. England still managed to get hammered in that game.
29th over: England 149-0 (Crawley 59, Duckett 88) Zimbabwe were lightly criticised this morning for picking an extra seamer rather than an extra batter. They need every bowler they can find now.
When play resumes, Crawley sweeps Raza fiercely through square leg for four. It looks like there’s an all-day buffet at Trent Bridge.
Updated
Ngaraza is really struggling. They’ve brought a cart onto the field but the pain is such that he can barely get into it. Eventually he is driven off, shaking his head in frustration.
28.2 overs: England 142-0 (Crawley 55, Duckett 85) Duckett reverse sweeps a full toss wide from Raza wide of slip for four. It was in the air but perfectly safe.
It may also have reduced Zimbabwe to three seamers. Ngaraza ran after the ball and has pulled up with either a back or a hamstring problem. There’s a break in play while he receives treatment; he’s crouched over and looks in a lot of pain.
28th over: England 137-0 (Crawley 54, Duckett 81) Victor Nyauchi starts with a jaffa to Duckett that hits something on its way to through to the keeper. He goes up with feeling for caught behind but Nyauchi turns straight on his heels; replays show that it brushed Duckett’s jumper.
Duckett is denied by a fine stop in the covers, then edges straight between slip and gully for four. That was a terrific over, probably the best of the day.
27th over: England 133-0 (Crawley 54, Duckett 77) Time for some spin from the allrounder Sikandar Raza. He can spin the ball both ways and is hiding it behind his back as he runs up. No sign of turn in his first over and England pick up three low-risk singles.
The 13 active players walk back onto the field of play. Old ball, flat pitch: Zimbabwe are facing an afternoon of exceedingly hard yakka.
Lunchtime reading
Lunch
26th over: England 130-0 (Crawley 53, Duckett 75) Nyauchi has a big LBW appeal turned down when Crawley misses a flick across the line. It was full enough but delivered from wide on the crease and would swung past leg stump.
That’s the end of a comfortable morning session for England’s openers, who had a look at the bowlers for a few overs and then started to go through the gears. Zak Crawley hit some lovely drives in his 86-ball 53; Ben Duckett found gaps here, there and everywhere to race to 75 from 71.
Updated
25th over: England 129-0 (Crawley 53, Duckett 74)
Thanks to Mojo Wellington for sending in the overseas TMS link.
24th over: England 125-0 (Crawley 52, Duckett 71) A gentle statgasm for you as we approach lunch. This is England’s first century opening partnership before lunch in a home Test since Lord’s 2009, when Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook reached 126 for 0 against Australia.
Four more to Duckett after a misfield in the covers. He has a modest conversion rate in Tests, 24 per cent, so will be keen to make this count.
Updated
23rd over: England 117-0 (Crawley 51, Duckett 64) Duckett reaches well outside off stump to toe-end a short ball from Muzarabani for four more. When Muzarabani gets it right he’s a handful, as he reminds us with a beauty that beats Crawley’s attempted drive. He has bowled better than figures of 9-2-37-0 might suggest.
22nd over: England 112-0 (Crawley 51, Duckett 59) Victor Nyauchi, another right-arm seamer, comes on for the first time today. Duckett blazes his second ball through extra cover for four, a stand-and-deliver special. I wonder whether, even now, Duckett is a little underappreciated – not necessarily for his productivity but just how much fun he is to watch, and how rare/unique it is for an England opener to have so many boundary-hitting options. He’s so creative and could time the pants off an overused metaphor.
Crawley, no slouch himself, tucks a couple off the pads to reach a classy, largely serene fifty, his first in 11 Test innings. It’s tempting to say it was inevitable, given the modesty of the opposition and the quality of the pitch, but I’m not so sure: a pharmaceutical grade Crawley performance would have been 0 and 1 against Zimbabwe followed by 64 and 62 in the first Test against India, then 191 off 172 in the second.
Updated
Stokes clarifies Bethell comments
21st over: England 105-0 (Crawley 49, Duckett 54) AND THERE IT IS, THE FIRST CENTURY OPENING PARTNERSHIP FOR ENGLAND IN A MEN’S TEST SINCE 1 JUNE 2023. Crawley brings up the milestone by waving Muzarabani to third person for a couple.
This is interesting: Sky are reporting that Ben Stokes has clarified his comments about Jacob Bethell in yesterday’s press conference. Apparently he was referring to the squad rather than the XI, so as things stand it’s still two from Crawley, Pope and Bethell for the first India Test.
Updated
20th over: England 98-0 (Crawley 44, Duckett 52) Crawley and Duckett put together plenty of fifty partnerships but their last century stand was against Ireland two years ago so they won’t turn their nose up at three figures here.
Crawley moves them closer with a smooth swivel-pull for four when a short ball from Ngarava sits up nicely on leg stump. The way this is going, you could almost introduce an honesty box and let England pick their score. 550 for four off 100 overs? Go on then.
19th over: England 93-0 (Crawley 40, Duckett 51) Muzarabani, on for Chivanga, begins his second spell with a terrific delivery that straightens off the seam to beat Crawley’s defensive push. The rest of the over is of similar quality and Crawley plays out a maiden.
Updated
18th over: England 93-0 (Crawley 40, Duckett 51) Ngarava moves around the wicket and beats Crawley with a good delivery bowled from very wide on the crease. He moves back over for Duckett and has an LBW appeal turned down when Duckett whips across line; it was missing leg stump on the angle.
17th over: England 92-0 (Crawley 39, Duckett 51) Duckett slashes Chivanga high over the slips for four to reach a typically breezy fifty from 47 balls. The last 41 runs have come off only 28.
Crawley and Duckett are being rewarded for their patience in the first half hour, when batting was reasonably tricky. Now it feels like a buffet on a very flat Trent Bridge pitch.
16th over: England 85-0 (Crawley 37, Duckett 46) England are flying now. Duckett bunts Ngarava through mid-on for four; Crawley drives sweetly to the same boundary, long-off for him.
“Nothing better than a Test match Thursday for me,” begins Ettienne Terblanche. “Half a mind to skive off work, grab a Guinness and a lasagne and spend the afternoon listening to the gentle/violent thok! of leather on willow while bathing in the afterglow of Ange calling me his best mate. I live in Johannesburg, so I may be imagining that last bit.”
15th over: England 75-0 (Crawley 32, Duckett 41) A gentle outswinger from Chivanga is driven imperiously for four by Crawley, a shot that wouldn’t have looked out of place during his masterpiece at Old Trafford in 2023.
This Test feels like a shootout between Crawley and Pope, and it could be that a very good score isn’t enough. There’s a precedent here, and it even involves a Crawley.
Going into the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at the end of the 1998 summer, Graeme Hick and John Crawley were fighting for one place on the Ashes tour. Hick sealed his place on day one with a stylish 107. Or so we thought: Crawley raised him with a spectacular 156 on the second day and ended up getting the nod. (As it transpired Hick, left out of the original party, was in the team by the second Test but that’s another story.)
Drinks: England off to strong start
14th over: England 69-0 (Crawley 27, Duckett 39) Richard Ngarava has changed ends to replace Muzarabani. Stuart Broad thought he should have started from this end. A drive from Crawley beats Curran in the covers and bounces away for four, the last action of a comfortable first hour for England.
Updated
13th over: England 63-0 (Crawley 23, Duckett 39) Crawley is beaten on the inside by an inducker that whooshes past off stump. Chivanga is swinging the ball consistently, which will make him a threat against Crawley in particular if he can find the right line.
Updated
12th over: England 59-0 (Crawley 22, Duckett 37) It took about two overs for Nasser Hussain to start sledging his co-commentator, the former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell, about the flippin’ murder Test of 1996.
The sweepers go out on the off side which suggests the plan is what Alistair Campbell has been asking for. Famous for once asking his bowlers to bowl wide to England; I think this present attack are gonna bowl to England. Bumble, wherever you are, they’re still bowling wide.
Muzarabani, who appears to have excellent control, starts to hit a sixth-stump line to Crawley. After four balls he throws in the surprise nipbacker; it beats Crawley on the inside but hits him too high for an LBW appeal.
11th over: England 59-0 (Crawley 22, Duckett 37) Tanaka Chivanga, a pacy swing bowler, replaces Ngavara (5-1-22-0). He finds some immediate inswing to Duckett, but he’s too straight and Duckett clips consecutive boundaries through midwicket and backward square.
A leg-side short ball is helped round the corner for four to make it 12 from the over. England are officially at cruising speed.
10th over: England 47-0 (Crawley 22, Duckett 25) Crawley moves into the twenties with a pristine cover drive for four off Muzarabani. A Hawkeye graphic on Sky shows how ruthless England have been this morning:
Full length 164 runs per 100 balls
Good length 22
Short 90
Bouncer 225
9th over: England 43-0 (Crawley 18, Duckett 25) An inviting short ball from Ngarava is flogged over midwicket for four by Duckett, who started slowly but is vrooming through the gears: 10 from his first 19 balls, 15 from the last nine.
8th over: England 36-0 (Crawley 16, Duckett 20) Duckett cracks Muzarabani through extra cover for four more, then makes it three boundaries in four balls for England with a bread-and-butter work off the hip. England have almost doubled their score in the last two overs.
“Having followed Notts via livestream this year,” begins John Starbuck, “I can say that one thing about Tongue is that when he takes a few, they come very soon after each other. Delicious anticipation awaits.”
A tall Notts quick who takes wickets in clusters? Oh go on then.
7th over: England 26-0 (Crawley 16, Duckett 10) England’s openers usually go off like a pair of pacemakers, but they’ve been relatively restrained this morning.
Saying which, a wide half-volley from Ngarava gets what it deserves when Crawley rifles a boundary through the covers.
Updated
6th over: England 19-0 (Crawley 12, Duckett 7) Crawley drives uppishly and just wide of the bowler Muzarabani, who reached to his left in his follow through but couldn’t get there. The next delivery is a big nipbacker that hits Crawley amidships.
So many overseas fast bowlers, including greats like Dale Steyn, struggle to find the right length when they first play in England. Muzarabani has started impressively in that regard.
5th over: England 16-0 (Crawley 10, Duckett 6) Duckett is beaten, trying to cut a ball from Ngarava that was too close even for him to manufacture the shot. Crawley, who has started confidently for a man in such putrid form this year, drives pleasantly through the covers for a couple before punching another drive that Ngarava fields in his follow-through.
That’s the lovely thing about this moment, right now. Zak Crawley could feasibly be playing his final Test match, or this could be the start of an 11-Test run in which he bashed 1178 runs at 62 and cements his reputation as one of the great rough-track bullies. Everything’s on the table
“If we’re after more misconstrued ends to a film,” begins Ant Pease, “I think it’s hard not to mention Dancer In The Dark. Sure, the final minutes contain the occasional speed bump on the road to total contentment, but a lot of people will overlook the bottom line; that a vulnerable young man got his sight back, in what to me is a wonderful endorsement of the American healthcare system.”
I haven’t seen it so I can’t really comment. Not sure I’ll bother now if it’s another bloody feelgood romp.
4th over: England 13-0 (Crawley 8, Duckett 5) The first short ball of the day, from Muzarabani, is pulled effortlessly for four by Crawley. Fair to say the ball isn’t flying through, so if England get to lunch in good shape they could run riot this afternoon.
Muzarabani ends an otherwise excellent over, and actually the short ball was worth a try, by slipping one past Crawley’s defensive push.
3rd over: England 9-0 (Crawley 4, Duckett 5) Ngarava bowls a very accurate second over, with a suggestion of shape away from the left-hander. Duckett leaves all six deliveries with an extravagant, Mike Gatting-style shouldering of arms defends the majority and it’s a maiden.
“Lots of talk about Cook and fair enough - he’s earned this,” says Phil Harrison. “But I’m really pleased to see Tongue back in the equation. He was excellent in those Tests he played in 2023 and I reckon he’ll be a handful in Australian conditions. How many quicks do you reckon England will take to Australia? Given how many bases they want to cover and how injury prone most of them are, I reckon it could be about eight or nine!!”
I can’t say for certain because he hasn’t answered my WhatsApps for years, but I get the impression Rob Key is more excited about Tongue than any of the other emerging fast bowlers. The Bairstow rumpus overshadowed the first three days of the 2023 Lord’s Test, when, in the circumstances, Tongue bowled exceptionally well.
As for the seamers, yep I think they will have at least nine over there or at least on standby. Ten if you include Jimmy in the coaching team, ready for an emergency call-up with the series 2-2 going into the final Test at Sydney.
2nd over: England 9-0 (Crawley 4, Duckett 5) Blessing Muzarabani, a very tall right-arm seamer, shares the new ball. He has 51 Test wickets at 21 and, though the majority came against Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland, plenty of good judges think he’s the real deal.
He pitches the ball right up, inviting the drive in the hope the ball will move enough to find the edge. Crawley clips a straight ball through midwicket for three and Duckett lashes a cover drive that is well stopped. There has only been a little bit of seam movement so far, nothing in the air.
Updated
1st over: England 5-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 4) The pitch looks flat but the overhead conditions could make this a tricky morning session for England.
Crawley works a single to get off the mark, then Duckett clubs a short ball to the extra cover boundary. Ngarava has an LBW appeal turned down when Duckett is beaten by a bit of seam movement. It was too high but that will encourage Zimbabwe.
“Are there any changes to playing conditions for this match compared to a standard five-day Test?” asks James Higgott. “More overs per day? Different lead required for the follow on? Making up time lost to rain?”
I think there are supposed to be 98 overs a day, but England can’t manage 90 so good luck with that. The follow-on mark is 150 runs rather than 200.
Updated
The left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava will open the bowling to the out-of-form Zak Crawley. For the first time in the Bazball era, Crawley’s place in the team is under threat.
Never a truer five words
“Test cricket is back,” says Marcus Abdullahi. “Rejoice!”
The players are ready. Zak Crawley is smiling, Ben Duckett is always smiling. Let the Test match summer begin.
“First Cook in an England team for seven years,” says Andrew Goudie. “How time flies.”
Doesn’t it just. We’re all gonna die I’m afraid.
“It looks to me that Zimbabwe have got it right, with five bowlers, and England are limited to four,” says John Starbuck. “They are a seamer short and, unlike some earlier selections, they have only one all-rounder (Root, a limited spinner) given that Stokes won’t be expected to exert his frail body just yet. Shoaib Bashir might have done a good job, even if we have a limited choice of possible seamers.”
John, John, John, over the next eight months we’re going to have a gazillion conversations about the balance of the England side. Let’s just enjoy ourselves for a few days – or until Zimbabwe reach 200 for 3 in reply to England’s 121 all out and Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue have gone off injured and Ben Stokes is into his 12th over of offspin because he’s pulled both hamstrings.
“Se7en?” sniffs Matt Dony. “Not a happy ending? John Doe gets exactly what he wanted, and who doesn’t love a lovely little present? After these next eight months or so, Baz and Stokes can wander off into a sepia sunset for a well-earned rest, like Mills and Somerset.”
Oh, so now we’re making jokes about the brutal murder of innocent fictitious characters?
You sicken me.
A lovely bit of pre-match reading
The teams
Zimbabwe’s team includes Ben Curran, brother of Tom and Sam, the brilliant white-ball allrounder Sikandar Raza and the classy middle-order batter Sean Williams.
(For those who aren’t familiar with him, Ben’s father Kevin was a feisty, hard-hitting allrounder who played 11 ODIs for Zimbabwe and spent the best part of 15 years in county cricket. Had the residency qualification been shorter than 10 years, he would surely have played for England.)
England Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (c), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Tongue, Cook, Bashir.
Zimbabwe Curran, Bennett, Ervine (c), Williams, Raza, Madhevere, Tsiga (wk), Ngarava, Muzarabani, Chivanga, Nyauchi.
Updated
Zimbabwe win the toss and bowl
That means an early look at a) Zak Crawley and b) Zimbabwe’s exciting fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani. It’s overcast at Trent Bridge - although Stuart Broad, the local expert, thinks it’s a bit too cold for the ball to swing.
Ben Stokes says he would have bowled as well.
Updated
England named their team a couple of days ago, with the aforementioned Sam Cook making his Test debut at the age of 27. His record in domestic cricket, all in Division One, is outrageously good: 300-odd wickets at an average of 18. He could be England’s Scott Boland.
England Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (c), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Tongue, Cook, Bashir.
After years of being ignored because England were also-rans being overshadowed by the World Test Championship, the rankings are back!
This four-day Test is the first meeting between the sides since 2003, when England won both Tests by an innings. Interesting team they had, a mix of generations with a couple of bolters.
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan
Mark Butcher
Nasser Hussain (c)
Robert Key
Alec Stewart (wk)
Anthony McGrath
Ashley Giles
Matthew Hoggard (Richard Johnson in second Test)
Steve Harmison
James Anderson
Ali Martin's preview
If the history of English cricket tells us anything – and a reminder came only last winter with the women’s team and a bloodbath in Australia that forced a change of captain and coach – it is that these things tend to operate in accordance with the Ashes cycle. Whatever iteration of Bazball this is, its place in history – and a few jobs in the set-up – will likely be defined by the Test results over the next nine months.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the third and final act of Bazball, the high concept film that has consumed English cricket for the past few years. The first two acts followed a narrative arc that Robert McKee would approve of, if only he knew what the hell cricket was. In 2022 and 2023 we had the set-up, with England playing some astonishing cricket and sweeping (almost) all before them. Last year they encountered conflict and obstacles, with series defeats in India and Pakistan and a growing backlash against the B-word.
Now it’s time for the resolution. In the next eight months England will play 11 Test matches, starting with Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge over the next four days, and the historical judgement on Bazball will be cast. We all know what a happy ending looks like: Sydney, early January, Ben Stokes holding a little urn and haemorrhaging tears of joy like the modern man he is. But not every great film – and Bazball is most certainly that – has a happy ending: Mulholland Drive, Se7en, Casablanca, Chinatown. If England draw with India and are pummelled by Australia, the euphoria of act one will be forgotten. Forget it Baz, it’s Australia away.
There’s something else to consider. England have crept up to No2 in the Test rankings, a subject that we are contractually obliged to mention only when they have a chance of reaching top spot. There’s a disconcertingly feasible scenario whereby they can win the Ashes in Australia and become world No1 at the time. Don’t get too excited, though; the World Test Championship is still off limits. Even if England win all 11 Tests, they’ll lose so many points for a slow over-rate that they’ll probably still be stuck in mid-table.
England are expected to beat Zimbabwe at a canter, so the main focus will be on the individual narratives. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are realistically playing for one place against India; Sam Cook has finally been dropped from England’s greatest uncapped XI; Shoaib Bashir has been retained despite a bruising six months; and Josh Tongue, who has bowled ferociously for Notts since returning from injury, plays his first Test since the Lord’s Ashes Test of 2023.
Lord’s 2023. Jonny Bairstow’s stumping, Ben Stokes pumping sixes to all parts. The stakes felt bloody high then, even though we were still in act one. Now it’s the start of act three, and it’s time for this laboured metaphor to stop the denoument.
Play begins at 11am, with the toss at 10.30am.
Updated
