Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley return to form to give England selection headache

Yahoo

22-05-2025

Ben Stokes started the day by rowing back on his suggestion that Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley are playing for their places against Zimbabwe but the message had already landed.
In his briefing with the written press on Wednesday, Stokes answered 'put two and two together' and 'you probably know what's going to happen' when asked if Jacob Bethell keeps his place at no 3 when he returns from the IPL.
Privately, Stokes wanted it known later he was referring to the squad, not the starting XI but even if it was a slip of the tongue it did put in public what everybody already knew, that Crawley and Pope need runs.
Crawley riposted with 124 and Pope an unbeaten 169 to give the captain and selectors a problem for the India series. With Ben Duckett scoring 140 they became the first top three to make centuries in the same innings twice in Test cricket; England cruised to 498-3 at 5.6 an over and this game already a race between a Harley-Davidson and a penny farthing.
"Composure and execution, with typical style" 🔥Zak Crawley brings up his fifth Test match century 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/CQxqEFWYaP
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
The first time they each made hundreds was against a shellshocked Pakistan in Rawalpindi on a day when Bazball intoxicatingly clicked but this was more a series of personal crusades against a Zimbabwe attack that was dismantled quicker than the Trent Bridge pavilion building site.
Duckett's motivation was not repeating the mistakes of 2024 when he played well and did not chalk up enough hundreds; Crawley and Pope just needed a score.
Duckett accelerated through the gears to his fifth Test hundred and first on his home ground, starting slowly by batting out a maiden, something he did not do all last summer, and even left a delivery outside off stump before he had double figures. Pope was off to a flyer with 21 off his first 10 balls before settling into rhythm while Crawley batted at the same pace, looking every inch a player who knew he needed a hundred and was determined to make it happen.
What a start to the summer for Ben Duckett 🤩Five Test match hundreds and counting for the opener 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/hC0kdqJECD
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
This was only Crawley's fifth hundred in his 54th Test and first since Australia at Old Trafford two summers ago. He was dismantled in New Zealand before Christmas by Matt Henry, averaging 8.66, and made one score above 50 in the Pakistan series in October.
It is unlikely he was going to be dropped for the India series. Bethell would have to open in that case against Jasprit Bumrah but had Crawley missed out here it would have left little room for error against India.
Also, making hundreds has been a problem for Crawley at every level. This was only his 12th first-class century in 128 games and unlike Pope, who has a phenomenal record for Surrey, Crawley's Kent returns are humdrum. This summer he had averaged two, yes two, in the first innings of matches in division two.
Zimbabwe did not test Crawley enough outside off stump and he could lean into his cover drive with confidence. He looked to score more singles than chase fours, and it was a calm, collected innings with Crawley looking a lot tighter in his technique. He struck 14 fours from 171 balls and the only time he looked uncomfortable was just before his dismissal when he inside edged a ball onto the bony part of his hip. He needed treatment from the physio and was out soon after sweeping.
Duckett's first 10 runs took 20 balls but he became the aggressor. His first fifty took 47 deliveries and reached 100 off 100 balls exactly, making it his second quickest Test hundred. He struck 20 fours and two sixes and was licking his lips when off spinner Wessly Madhevere came on, walloping his first two balls for four and six before clubbing his third to cover.
Pope was the one under real scrutiny because he bats no 3, where Bethell took Test cricket like a natural in New Zealand. There was an air of his flakiness at the start of innings when he went back first ball from Madhevere and survived a strong leg before shout. But Zimbabwe did not have the bowling plans or skills to apply pressure and Pope was quickly away, his nerves settled and the runs flowing. Pope cut and pulled with ease as Zimbabwe bowled too short, his 24 fours and two sixes were enjoyed by the crowd.
"An excellent hundred, you have to say a much-needed one" 💪An eighth Test century for Ollie Pope 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bTHQxATfqq
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Zimbabwe were just crushed. This was a bruising day that highlighted the huge gulf between the top teams and the rest. It came from a good place for the ECB to invite them over but one-sided Test cricket is tedious. Trent Bridge, one of the world's great cricket grounds, was only half full and the pavilion shrouded in tarpaulin and scaffolding as it goes through a refit. It was not a good look on day one of the Test summer, the only credit was the hundred or so Zimbabwe fans who sang all day.
Zimbabwe's bowling fed the strengths of the England batsmen. Too short to Duckett, too full to Crawley and they were bowler short with seamer Richard Ngarava off the field injured by the time Pope came in to add a few more punches to the guts.
Sikandar Raza, their T20 expert, kept it tight with his mix off spin, leg spin and carrom balls and 6ft 8in Blessing Muzarabani hurried up the batsmen with the odd delivery but the warning signs flashed last week at Grace Road when a bunch of promising county players declared on 464 in their second innings and beat Zimbabwe by 138 runs.
On Friday, Bethell will be warming the bench for RCB in the IPL. England this year decided to let players make their own decision over staying or coming home from India. In Bethell's case it would have been better to make the call for him because it is hard for a young player to upset an IPL owner.
Bethell needed to hide behind a recall because he is short of red-ball cricket. He has never scored a first-class hundred and only bowled 192 red-ball overs. In his absence Pope and Crawley did their best to make sure it is a while before he adds to those numbers.
A tough day all told for Zimbabwe, who lost Ngarava early to injury, depriving them of one of their best options with the ball.
For England, it was superb day against what was, it must be said, a relatively poor attack. Hundreds for Duckett, Crawley and Pope all bode well ahead of what is to come later this summer.
The last time England scored 500 in a day in England was 1924...neither Brook nor Pope will know that but it's fun little wrinkle in this final over of the session.
A couple of nice deliveries from Chivanga beat Pope before he's forced to dig out a yorker. The final ball of the day is tickled round the corner for four. England end of 498/3, a fine day for them but I can't be the only one a shade disappointed to see them fall just short of 500.
England finish day one on 498-3 after centuries from Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🤩 pic.twitter.com/kX3syXUnvz
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Muzarabani beats Pope all ends up – the first time we have seen any England batsmen truly bettered by a delivery all session. He's suddenly found his range with this new ball and looks very dangerous indeed.
That's loose though. Short, wide and punished (deservedly) by Pope. Is this the last over? No, we will have one more.
Chivanga given one last chance to get a breakthrough here late on day one. Pope, whose progress has slowed since Root's dismissal, picks up a single out to deep square. Brook then gets hold of one but is denied anything after some excellent fielding at mid-on.
Muzarabani getting some nice carry in the dying embers of day one. Harry Brook in no rush though. Excellent maiden.
Ollie Pope has been likened often to Joe Root. And there is one way which Pope improves upon the Modern Master: balance. Root has phases when his head falls across to the offside. Pope, helped by being shorter, does not fall over or else does it less. A couple of flicks by Pope - one for six off the new ball - have been marvellous shots, to go with his offdriving.
England move to 480...500 in a day is now seriously possible depending on how these two choose to approach these closing 20 minutes. Brook gets off the mark with a quick single into the off side.
Muzarabani had not got the short ball right until that delivery, which just bounced slightly more than Root was expecting. Harry Brook joins the fray.
Root c Williams b Muzarabani 34 Root looks to control a pull down but gets a top-edge instead sending the ball high into the sky. Good taken at fine leg by Williams.
Zimbabwe have their third wicket 🇿🇼Joe Root is dismissed by a Blessing Muzarabani bouncer ❌ pic.twitter.com/8XMV0JTyCe
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Six more for Pope! The ball is well down the leg side but Pope gets enough of the toe of the bat on it to send it sailing into the stands. Declaration looking less and less likely now. Harry Brook still has his pads on and perhaps it's just not worth it with for the four-odd overs they would get.
New ball taken and immediately sent to the boundary by Root, who just rocks back and eases the ball through backward point. Pope a little loose with a drive but the hard ball and the quick outfield are enough to carry the ball to the fence.
Nothing loose about the next shot, as Pope leans back and lifts the ball neatly over the slips. A loose slog is less pretty but takes Pope to beyond 150. Quality stuff.
...only Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis and Dravid ahead of Root in the all-time Test runs list.
Root tucks one off his legs to move to 28 and the crowd rise to hail his 13,000th Test match run. Remarkable.
At the other end, Pope continues apace, drilling Nyauchi down the ground for four before clipping one uppishly past the man at mid-wicket for yet another boundary.
The over ends with Pope picking one up off a length and lifting the ball over the leg-side infield for four.
"Perhaps England's finest EVER" 🤩Joe Root reaches 13,000 Test Runs 🙌 pic.twitter.com/lvs3TTypEi
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Muzarabani returns to the attack but the singles keep coming before Pope somehow gets bat on one that keeps low – a boundary through the slips is his reward. A few balls later, Pope plays the shot of the session, all balance and timing to crack Muzarabani through extra cover for four.
Hopeful appeal from the wicketkeeper as the ball canons into Root's pads but it looks like its just going down the leg side. Singles follow. This is death by a thousand cuts for Zimbabwe.
Root continues to pick up singles with ease. His ability to tick things over without taking any risks early in his innings is quite remarkable. At the other end, Pope punishes a leg-stump half-volley from Nyauchi. England's No 3 is really ticking...before nearly playing on the very next ball. Blogger's curse and all that...
Short from Raza, punished by Pope. Easy boundary through cover-point as England look to put their foot on the accelerator as the day heads towards its conclusion.
Root narrowly avoids an ugly run out after being sent back by Pope.
We enter the last hour of the day and Ben Stokes is sat on the balcony in his whites...padding up or declaring? YOU DECIDE (excuse the Big Brother reference).
Nyauchi is back into the attack and Ollie Pope tracks him, which feels like a signal of intent.
Creditable effort from Zimbabwe in frankly demoralising circumstances as England continue on their merry way Runs are just so easy to come by.
A good hand at cover prevents the ball dribbling to the boundary but Pope scampers back for three. At the other end, Root and neatly and quietly compiled 16 with the minimum of fuss. He plays a delightful little late cut to pick up a boundary. All touch and feel that.
Root clips one off this legs for Raza. Stokes must be thinking of a declaration here. Remember this is just a four-day game.
Elsewhere, Pope makes room for himself and gets to his hundred with a trademark punch through point for four. Another player who needed some runs at the start of this summer and has got them.
"An excellent hundred, you have to say a much-needed one" 💪An eighth Test century for Ollie Pope 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bTHQxATfqq
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Again three Zimbabwean fielders around the boundary when Ollie Pope was 99* - how to spread out a red carpet and usher an opponent to his century? Apart from the quick start - 11 off his first five balls - a fine controlled hundred by Pope. And he didn't rock the boat by playing very high-risk shots when Crawley was in his 80s. Good team man.
Brian Bennett is given an over...something of a poison chalice with Pope in the 90s but worth a go. Pope picks up a couple after some agricultural fielding from the man at mid-off before picks up a boundary behind square on the off side. He moves to 99...
Raza continues around the wicket with Pope seven shy of his hundred. The change of angle has just tucked up Pope a touch here, as he tries to force the ball into the vacant gaps on the off side. Maiden over.
Short from Madhevere and Root does not miss out, oozing characteristic class with a beautiful back-foot drive. Two balls later, same ball, same result, only this time it's Pope who profits. This has been fairly sub-par from Zimbabwe in truth, even with the class disparity between the two sides taken into account.
Pope continues on his merry way, with a quick single off Raza he's now 13 shy of a century. That defensive line is all well and good but Zimbabwe need another man on the leg side, England are just milking singles at present. A change of angle now for Raza, who comes round the wicket to Pope.
Blessing Muzarabani returns. He has been expensive today but is arguably the bowler with the most quality in this Zimbabwe attack. Great fielding in the gully prevents Root from picking up a single before an elegant push into the offside gives England's No4 a couple.
Credit to Sikander Raza who has battled hard in tough circumstances and finally gets a reward. Joe Root now joins the fray...it's hardly getting easier for Zimbabwe.
Crawley lbw Raza 124 Now that looks close, Crawley reviews but that looked pretty straight at first glance as we went for a hard sweep and DRS does not come to Crawley's rescue on this occasion, he's gone for a well-played 124 – and excellent start to his Test summer. FOW: 398/2
Sikandar Raza makes a crucial breakthrough for Zimbabwe ✅Zak Crawley departs for 124 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/caf6ualQAu
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Plenty of shots of Stokes on the England balcony here...could a declaration be on the cards? Elsewhere, Crawley still does not looks comfortable. Chivanga then drops short and it's easy picking for Pope, who only has to get some bat on it to pick up four down to fine leg.
Pope sets off for a quick single at the start of the next over and Crawley is still moving very gingerly despite getting home safely.
And just like that, here comes the physio to check Crawley out. After a couple of minutes of treatment he looks fine to continue.
Crawley climbs into a half-volley outside off-stump and the despairing dive from the man at cover can't stop another England boundary. Chivanga then whacks Crawley on the hip after a mis-timed pull – looks painful but he appears to have recovered quickly.
Hmmm this does not looks good. Crawley appears to have injured himself running after a mistimed drive. He's holding the area that was struck earlier in the over. Let's hope he can just run it off.
Fair play to England, as they pass 350 for one wicket. They have done what they had to do on a flat pitch without getting giddy. They have respected the game and the opposition and, above all, they haven't given their wickets away. Ollie Pope was a bit frenzied when he came in but that is his way. In sum, a fine re-booting so far.
Raza just one to tail in late towards Pope pads drawing hands on heads from himself and the close catchers. They have little to cling onto here as England continue to rotate strike with consummate ease.
Chivanga returns to the attack with Zimbabwe desperately seeking a breakthrough. Crawley will surely put his foot down on the accelerator now he 's reached three figures and he does just that, picking up for down the ground thanks to some poor fielding at mid-off.
Chivanga then tries the effort ball but it goes horribly wrong. It's miles down the leg side leaving Tsiga with no chance whatsoever and adding five to the England score.
Tafadzwa Tsiga is remaining creditably loud with the gloves for Zimbabwe amid what is fairly bleak game situation. Raza continues with his defensive line.
Nyauchi just has not got the pace to trouble England, especially with little assistance – aside from some gentle inswing – from the ball, pitch or conditions. If he misses his spot even slightly, it's an easy single at least for Pope and Crawley – who bring up the hundred partnership off the final ball of the over.
Raza continues his neat work, asking a few questions of Pope but ultimately letting the pressure off by dropping short and giving England's No 3 an easy single.
A hundred for Zak Crawley! And a much-needed one ahead of what is a massive summer for the opener. One suspect the attacks he will face later this summer and into the winter will have a slightly sharper edge. He bought it up with a leading edge but he will not care one iota.
Pope follows up with a six. He looks a shade lucky, flicking the ball towards the man on the fence at deep square but he timing is supreme.
"Composure and execution, with typical style" 🔥Zak Crawley brings up his fifth Test match century 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/CQxqEFWYaP
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Zimbabwe didn't even bring in their three boundary fielders to save a single when Zak Crawley was on 99. Such was the inevitability and their acceptance…
Pope tucks Raza off his legs for a single. This is pure one-day bowling now, a packed leg side field with the bowl speared into middle and leg. Damage limitation at it's finest from the tourists.
Evening all, what an easy day for England far. A power-puff first day of the international summer.
Victor Nyauchi offers a bit of width to Pope but he gets away with it, the ball flying over slip and down to the third-man boundary. Another four follows, this time pulled hard behind square for four. You feel Pope has three figures firmly on the mind in this final session.
Now it's Crawley's turn, hammering a cover drive for four to move with two of his hundred.
Sikandar Raza resumes with his 12th over and Pope brings up his fifty with an on-drive for a single down to long on. Crawley works a single off the unusual spinner to midwicket. Pope slaps one that looked like a seamer for a single and that's that.
And that's my stint done. Time to hand over. Tom Ward will be your guide to close of play.
This is a march, a shooting fish in a barrel exercise. England lost one wicket in the afternoon – Ben Duckett caught at cover – but it was batsman's error, not bowler's skill that brought the breakthrough. Duckett cashed in with 140, his fifth Test hundred, and Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are not going to pass up a gift either. Crawley is more muted than usual, recognising the importance of this innings for his future. At tea he is 93 off 139.
Pope was off to a flyer with 21 off his first 10 balls, helping himself to some freebies, but what will it all mean? This is such a poor Zimbabwe side that these runs are starting to feel a little meaningless. Nothing Pope and Crawley can do about that, other than keep going and make the selectors' decision a tough one when they choose the side for India.
Fine hundred from Duckett, his fifth and Crawley is on the threshold of his fifth, too. Odd to say given a run rate of 5.56 that Pope's perky innings has been a tonic but it has because of the elegance of his strokeplay. Poor old Zimbabwe are taking a pounding but I can't see any other way of broadening the Test game other than giving inexperienced teams invitations. It can take 50 years for them to be truly competitive and we need them for Test cricket to be around in 50 years.
Waiting for the inswinger proves productive for Pope who sways and leans to resemble a straw in the wind/backward slash – \ –and flicks it fine for four.
Crawley ends the session by chopping Nyaichi down to third man for two after Pope's midwicket whip for a single put him on strike.
That's tea with the second wicket partnership now 64 off 69 balls.
Pope plays another lovely cut shot for four at the start of the over before Raza, using his leg-spinner, and the one over the top of his hand, flicked between thumb and forefinger to keep the vice-captain on his toes
Pope drives Nyauchi for a single but the right-arm in-swing bowler finds a tighter line to Crawley and keeps him quiet with four dot balls and with the help of his cover fielder.
What's England's plan here? I suspect they will want to have a path to winning in two days, especially with a dodgy forecast for Saturday. So: probably get to 420 or so as quickly as possible, then declare with half an hour or so left this evening. That still leaves plenty of time for Zak Crawley to get a monster score.
Glorious shot from Pope, late-cutting Raza off his stumps down to third man for two. He tries the shot again but mistimes it and rather conspicuously plays two text book forward defensives before sweeping a single that pops off the top edge between fielders.
Victor replaces Blessing and they work him away for two singles each, three of them into the legside, using the angle and shape to flick them. A square drive from Crawley takes him to 90.
They are far more cautious with Raza who is in a good groove now, mixing up his deliveries, paces, points of release. They take a single each, both right-handers working the ball off their legs.
Crawley has played second fiddle to the dashing Duckett and the buccaneering pontiff but is given a short one by Muzarabeni and he pulls it savagely off the front foot for four, barely extending his arms, all biceps and elbows.
This is England's highest opening partnership in a home Test in 35 years.
— Yas Rana (@Yas_Wisden) May 22, 2025
Good spot by the wonderful Yas. It's the highest since Atherton and Gooch's 225 at Old Trafford 10 days on from their 204 at Lord's against India in the 333 match.
Back comes the frontline spinner Raza to replace the golden if expensive arm of Madhevere. And he manages to apply the breaks with his variations, including a slinger, yielding only two singles.
Pope has taken a liking to Muzarabani and is batting as if Scyld's musing about a declaration this evening is something the dressing room is contemplating. He creams the tall right-arm quick for four through cover and uppercuts the bouncer for four more.
Pope is playing at classic Crawley tempo, cutting Madhevere for four then slapping another short one for a single. Crawley, by contrast, deals in singles, hunkering deep to work one through midwicket and another to the cover sweeper.
That was the second double-century partnership between Crawley and Duckett, two short of their best (233). Pope looks in amazing nick, opening the face to run two down to third man, leg-glancing handsomely for four then bludgeoning a cut stroke for four more that flirted with the diving Bennett at gully but flew past.
Time for the off-spinning all-rounder Wessly Madhevere and Duckett gives him an unwelcome greeting to England with a crashing thump off the back foot through cover followed by a towering six, pulled off a long hop. But Madhevere's web did its work and ensnared him next ball.
Enter His Holiness who is pinned first ball by a big turning off-break that did too much and hit him too high above the knee roll on his right leg. A drag down is a more polite welcome for Pope and he duly dispatches it for four, cutting it hard for four.
Duckett c Curran b Madhevere 140 Duckett can't believe it having taken the off-spinner for four, six and then out off his first three balls. He rocked back and tried to smash the cover off a back-foot punch but slapped it straight to cover. So hard does he smash his right had into his thigh ne may have given himself a dead leg begore shuffling off. FOW 231/1
Zimbabwe have their first wicket of the match 🇿🇼Ben Duckett's magical innings comes to an end 🪄 pic.twitter.com/hnZUnL30NC
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
Ervine turns back to his strike bowler, Blessing Muzarabani. Only one slip. Duckett steers a single off an open dace down to third man and Crawley plays tip and run to cover who gives him the hurry up with a smart collect, dive and underarm shy. The ball missed the stumps but Crawley had scurried home in any case.
Bangladesh in 2005, India in 1959, New Zealand in 1958…. No, it's hard to think there has been a greater disparity between England and a touring side since the Second World War, because Ireland got a foothold in both of their Tests at Lord's.
And it could get grimmer if England declare with an hour left today…
Chivanga's bouncer evades Crawley's bat as it arrows down leg but not his pads and it is diverted fine for four leg-byes. The next delivery is also angling down but this snacks into the keeper's gloves as does the third. I don't think this is a strategy for strangulation. Rather that he can't stop them drifting. Crawley punches two through cover when Chivanga does a Mark Wood and tumbles in his followthrough and follows that with a handsome cover drive off a wider one as the right-arm quick overcorrects his line. .
Duckett summons the drinks by clubbing four through cover with a bat halfway between horizontal and vertical.There are supposed to be six hours of play in a Test day and at halfway we've got through 39 overs. I mean…
Chivanga's shorter ball scuttles under Duckett's pull, dips desperately late and burrows beneath poor Tsiga's dive to go down for four byes. He doesn't deserve that, Duckett toes another cut for a single to raise England's 200 and, obviously, the double-century partnership, the highest since their first together (of 233) at Rawalpindi in 2022 on Duckett's recall after five years' exile.
Chivanga foxes Duckett with a knuckle ball that the left-hander carts high over long on, early on the shot, for three.
Diddled by the quicker one from Raza, Duckett closes the face too soon and it sails off a leading edge, coming to earth agonisingly short of mid-on. Tsiga is from the Moin Khan school of chatty keepers, constantly encouraging his spinner after every ball. 'Sackie! Sackie!' A tad monotonously for my tastes. Was never a fan of the 'Bowled, Shane!' or 'Mushy, chalo. Mushy!' either.
You can't give Duckett anything to cut and get away with it and so it proves for the returning Tanaka Chivanga who moved the ball more than anyone this morning but was expensive when he got his line wrong. Duckett scythes him away for four and then when given another short one, this on off stump, he pulls it over square leg for six! He absolutely flogged that one.
Duckett squeezes Raza's darted one away into the onside for a single while Crawley fails to get his bat on the carrom ball that arrowed into his pads but sprints a couple of leg-byes nonetheless.
Duckett throws whatever caution he still had (very little) to the wind, pulling Nyauchi uppishly through midwicket, a yard beyond the diving fielder's span for four, then panning another just short of the diving bowler in his followthrough. He tried to scoop his hand under the ball as he threw himself forward but could not quite manage it. When Nyauchi drops short, Duckett cuffs it for four behind square.
Until Yashasvi Jaiswal breaks into India's ODI team (might take a little while as Sharma and Kohli are still around), there's a very strong case that Ben Duckett is the best all-format opener in the world. It would be fantastic to see him get really ruthless in 2025. A terrific start.
A hundred for Duckett on his (current) home ground when he works the spinner Raza off his pads round the corner for a single. A hundred off a hundred balls. Off comes the helmet and he raises both arms before embracing his partner.
Lovely shot from Crawley, picking the leg break and giving himself room to square drive it for four. England's new training kit, including beanie hats which are being worn on the chilly balcony, are in imperial purple. They all rose to applaud Duckett, a strange sight with Nos three, four and five in whites with purple woolly hats.
💯 runs 💯 balls 🙌 A home hundred for Ducky! 🏟@BenDuckett1 | @IGcom pic.twitter.com/vder7Uh3yF
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) May 22, 2025
Nyauchi began this session with a fine over but sprays this one around, Ducektt whisking three off his legs when he goes straight, Crawley tickling the inswinger for a single and forcing the keeper Tsiga into a great take, diving headlong to his right as the ball swings even further after the stumps. And then he almost lures Duckett on to the rocks with a full one floated outside off stump at 75mph. Duckett throws his hands at a drive and the ball whistles past the edge as it moved away.
Raza drops too short and Duckett uses his flashing wrists when crouched deep in his crease to lace a punch between cover point and extra- for four. The spinner then errs on the fuller side and Duckett takes him for a single through mid-off. Crawley uses Raza's width to steer two more through cover. Old man Scoreboard, he just keeps rolling along…
Duckett moves to 90 and England to 150 with a dab down to third man for two. Duckett has only four Test centuries from 61 innings but 10 scores between 71 and 98, eight of them in the past two yea to back up Will's point. .
The only way this is an equal contest between England and Zimbabwe, who have been reduced to ten men: it is 3-3 in terms of reviews remaining.
It's never a long wait for Duckett to get the broom out and he reverse-sweeps Raza for four. Richard Ngarava starts to give chase and seizes up. He seems to have had a back spasm or possibly twanged his hamstring. He can't move, standing like a statue until the physio comes on. He's holding his lower back on the right side. They have to send on the little electric truck to take him off. The last thing Zimbabwe need is to lose a frontline bowler.
Raza's variations include his pace and he slings down a carrom ball that Duckett drives for two and then takes a single off the next. Crawley ends the over with a hard sweep, RSVP-ing the invitation from a straight ball with brutal force.
Victor Nyauchi continues after lunch and starts with a peach from round the wicket to Duckett that angles in, climbs, nips away and kisses his sleeveles sweater around hip-height after it beats the bat. The keeper appeals but is persuaded the noise was neither bat nor glove. Much better from Zimbabwe and not just from the bowlers as the fielders back them up with good stops. Five probing dot balls are followed by one that acts like the first and this one does catch the edge, thickly enough to send it between slip and gully for four. Catchable height for third slip but he's long gone.
A lengthy Zimbabwe huddle precedes the resumption. I'm sure it was all said over lunch but always good to re-emphasise. Spin straight after lunch from Sikandar Raza, fresh from the Pakistan Super League. He's very much like Sunil Narine in terms of a bouncing run-up, hiding the ball in his action as long as possible and possessing the ability to turn it both ways. Duckett takes a couple of singles straight and into the offside, Crawley's with the turn through midwicket.
A spot of lunchtime perambulation for me. The crowd is decent rather than massive, but there will be a few more in tomorrow and Saturday apparently. Loads of Zimbabwean caps and shirts here, which is great to see.
England could not have had an easier introduction to Test cricket in 2025 than the opening session against Zimbabwe. It was total dominance by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley with a 130-run unbroken opening stand.
Apart from a half chance caught and bowled when Crawley was on 10, Zimbabwe have not had a sniff of a wicket after winning the toss and bowling first on a cloudy Nottingham morning.
Gilbert Jessop's name has already been mentioned, with a view to the strokemakers coming in later on and setting records and it could be a really bruising day for Zimbabwe, playing their first Test here for 22 years.
Duckett has never scored a Test hundred on his home ground and this is an important year for him. He had a good 2024, but it could have been better, he failed to convert enough good starts into centuries. He looks as if he has taken that on board and wants to do better this year. Crawley is under pressure for his place as always, although most of that scrutiny is coming from outside the dressing room. Inside, he retains rock solid support and today can cement his place.
A couple of chances – when Crawley's drive flashed past Muzarabani and Duckett spooned one that stuck in the pitch just short of mid-off – apart, that was pretty much the perfect session for Ben Duckett and, particularly Zak Crawley who has been in the crosshairs so long he must feel like Charles De Gaulle.
Victor Nyauchi must be the first Victor to play Test cricket since Victor James Marks who, incidentally, was played by my friend Pete Lovell in the Bollywood smash 83. A non-speaking role, alas.
Just a single off Victor's third over and he pins Crawley with a hooping inswinger. They take a good 20 seconds to ponder a review but wisely keep it up their sleeve as it seemed to be missing leg stump by at least 18 inches. Indeed it was.
That's lunch.
Crawley flicks a single off Muzarabani through midwicket and Duckett plays the deftest of dabs for two through third man. Time for one more over before lunch. Spin? No. It will be Nyauchi.
Severe case of pad rash for Ollie Pope here. Runs to be had, Bethell incoming. You'd be itching to get out there, wouldn't you?
Lovely shot from Duckett but it was a gimme of a delivery from Nyauchi, wide and full. Duckett thumps it for four with the sweetest of 'thocks' resounding off prime Englihs willow. A shorter ball pushes the left-hander back and he slaps it square for two.
Duckett uses the linseed oil hole, or would have if such a thing still existed, to reach across to a very wide one and toe it for four through third man. As Michael Atherton says, he'll chalk the cue after that one.
England have batted well against some inconsistent bowling which, given the alien conditions, particularly the cold, and the lack of experience, is to be expected. Muzarabani has been the pick of them but still has a four-ball at least every other over. Rubbish over-rate, too. But that ship has long sailed.
Victor Nyauchi is coming on as second-change and is so well wrapped up that when he takes off his jumper he manages to get his shirt tangled up in it too so stands in his vest for a while, smiling as he extricates the shirt and puts it back on.
Right-arm, medium fast I'd say rather than t'other way round. Duckett has a look for a ball then smashes a back of a length delivery with his back-foot punch through cover for four. A clumpy, scuffed cut earns him a single and Crawley uses the inswing to work two through midwicket to raise his first half-century since the first innings of the first Multan Test last winter, 11 innings ago.
Zak Crawley reaches his 17th Test half-century 👏 pic.twitter.com/m5CZizLIyP
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 22, 2025
The openers pick off Muzarabani for three singles and a pair of deuces, bringing up their third century stand in the process, their first since the Ireland Test of 2023.
It's fair to say that England – having rattled up a century opening stand against inaccurate bowling on a flat pitch – stand a good chance of batting for 40 overs.
Amazing but all too true: in their previous 13 Test innings England have been bowled out in fewer than 40 overs four times.
That sort of statistic belongs to batting in the nineteenth century. This image, and reality, of brittleness need to be banished.
After Duckett whisks a single off his ankles, Ngarava comes round the wicket to Crawley and serves up a pat-a-cake short ball on the right-hander's midriff and he pulls it fine for four, pirouetting smoothly on his right toes. At the end of the over he tries the bait of a siren call, a wide, floaty, full one, inviting a big drive. Crawley does have a big whoosh at it but plays and misses.
Muzarabani returns and this time from the end the old Trent Bridge lags say will benefit him most. No loosener from the Royal Challengers Bangalore-bound paceman, beating Crawley with one that nibbles past his outside edge as he fenced at it. Cover stops a crashing drive and the pick of Zimbabwe's bowlers, the leader of the attack, resumes with his second maiden. Can Richie back Blessing up now they're at the right ends?
Ngarava strangles a leg-before appeal after pinning Duckett just above his boots as he knew it was angling down the legside from over the wicket. Some shape for the left-armer… it's the line that's the problem.
Mis-step from Duckett when a delivery from Chivanga sticks in the pitch and he is late on it, chipping it just short of mid-off. The next ball is shorter and he throws his bat at it, edging it deliberately over the slips for four to bring up a 14th Test 50. Not an uppercut, more a slash.
Third Test innings at Trent Bridge, third Test fifty at Trent Bridge 👏@BenDuckett1 | @IGcom pic.twitter.com/WuF8oy9gRA
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) May 22, 2025
Duckett crashes an on-drive with a bit too much inner-half of the blade between bowler, Ngarava, and mid-on for four. The next ball from the left-armer tucks Duckett up a little but he manages to squirt it off a thick edge for a single and then Crawley gives us another chance to swoon at his cover drive, drilling it for four.
It all feels a little low-key – but England are advancing at well over 5 an over. Simon Wilde, of The Times, has a book out in July on Gilbert Jessop's record for the fastest England century, 76 balls against Australia in 1902. He might have cause to fear that the book will be out of date before publication date: Ben Duckett continues to advance at over a-run-a-ball. The biggest threat to Jessop's record, though, could come from Harry Brook or Ben Stokes later.
Oh, Tim. The first rule of beating Gilbert Jessop is not mentioning Gilbert Jessop until it's done…
Eoin Morgan confirms Stuart Broad's assertion that it takes an hour for the lacquer to come off a Dukes ball and hence for it to reach optimal swingability, a phrase I reckon has not been deployed since the heyday of Jason King. Chivanga is definitely shaping it more than any of his colleagues but he can't harness it to a consistent line and they take him for three singles with drives, a no-ball adds another run and then Crawley nails a cover drive between extra and mid-off for four.
Nope. No swing and Crawley climbs into a drive that should have been stopped by Ben Curran at short extra but he misjudged the bounce and as he put his hands out it went over his wrists, through his arms and away for four.
Time for drinks, and a chance for a Zimbabwe rethink.
Anorak weather in the crowd. Chivanga finds more consistency and almost Crawley's wicket with a ripper that shapes away and then nibbles back in to beat Crawley on the inside edge and the keeper's left hand. They run a bye to go with a trio of singles. Chivanga is the only one who has swung it so far but that may changes as Ngarava is going to switch ends and will have the breeze in his favour.
Change of tack from Ervine and Muzarabani, switching to a fifth-stump line with a ring in the offside to back him up. After four deliveries making Crawley reach or leave, he angles one in and strikes the Kent opener above the back knee but outside off stump. The last ball is sprayed down the legside and Crawley misses out on his attempted tickle.
Tanaka Chivanga is the first change and the breeze is perfect for the right-arm seamer, swinging it in to Duckett who, after defending the first mimes swing by curving his arm to his partner. But the next two, while swinging, start too straight and Duckett whips them off his pads for a pair of fours.
Chivanga tries the yorker and Duckett chisels that one out diligently so the bowler tries to surprise him with a short one but again on middle and leg. Duckett pokes it fine off his glove and handle for four more.
Three decent deliveries, three pies which has been the ratio of the day so far for the Zimmers.
Elegant cover drive from Crawley, smeared on the up for four off Muzarabani. Change of ends might help. Or change of bowler…
Good idea by Craig Ervine to post a short extracover for Ben Duckett but Zimbabwe's opening bowlers can't bowl more than two or three balls in the right place so no pressure. Blessing Muzarabani is bowling both sides of the wicket to Ben Duckett. Maybe a couple of overs for Sikander Raza, the sort of mystery spinner who has modelled himself on Sunil Narine?
It's quite the thankless task for Crawley today. Make runs and it will be 'only Zimbabwe'. Fail to make a decent knock and it's 'Disgrace'. Perhaps that's the bind Messrs Stokes and McCullum have put him in by sticking by him so long but we should recall how well he played during the Ashes, how valuable he could be on Australian pitches with his height and timing and that his injury last summer knocked him off course.
They pinch a single when Crawley's defensive squirts through the infield, Duckett on-drives for another, Crawley plays tip and run for a third and Duckett ends the over with a withering pull for four.
After that vintage Crawley drive, Duckett plays his most fluent shot of the morning with a glorious off drive when Muzarabani goes full from round the wicket. The quick then goes shorter and strays on to middle and leg so Duckett cuffs it behind square for four to overtake his partner.
The second boundary acted like a dose of smelling salts for Muzarabani and he responds with a jaffa that angles in from round the wicket, leaps up and rears away from Duckett's edge.
Duckett ends the over muttering and shaking his head after missing out on an invitation to cut as he chops it into the ground.
Zimbabwe have a short cover in for Crawley and he stops one chunky drive but when Ngarava errs wider outside off stump it gives the opener the chance of driving it much squarer and it races away for four. Shot!
There's at least a foot difference in height between Blessing Muzarabani and Ben Duckett. Joel Garner probably bowled to some little fellas but I can't remember too many bigger or more glaring height differences than that. They are both former Northants men (Nick Hoult is glowing with pride) but didn't quite play together I don't think.
Crawley drives uppishly and Muzarabani, who has the wingspan of a Pterodactyl dives to his left but doesn't manage to reach it. Crawley used his hands more than his feet and didn't get to the pitch which made him spoon it. But maybe it's his day and he runs two. Earlier in the over Blessing went round the wicket to Duckett for the first time but sprayed it on to his pads, giving the left-hander an easy flick round the corner for a single.
Very loose shot from Duckett, flashing and missing at a cut stroke when Ngarava starts with a back of a length delivery. The left-hander gets off strike with bottom-hand shovel through midwicket and Crawley check-drives the left-armer for two through cover. Ngarava tries the yorker that dips alarmingly but sufficiently wide enough for Crawley just to leave it alone.
Nice pull from Crawley, a 6ft 6in batsman playing a 6ft 8in batsman negates some of the height advantage and he is comfortably on to it, on top of it and hammers it through square leg for four. Muzarabani ends the over well with one that angles in and straightens a touch to beat the maker's name of Crawley's GN as he pushed forward.
Impressive movement from Blessing so far, good control, the rather flaccid bouncer notwithstanding.
Ngarava 's radar is calibrated now and he finds a much more nagging length to Duckett and it earns him a maiden. Broad says he's bowling at the wrong end given the breeze and would be more effective from the Radcliffe Road End.
As Stuart Broad says, Muzarabani is lively but his natural length is short. So when he does pitch it up, even at 84mph it looks a bit floaty and Crawley has the time to whisk it wristily through midwicket for three. The straw-coloured outfield isn't slick and a stroke that would go for four in midsummer dribbles short of the rope.
Seeing the Curran brothers (Sam and Tom) interviewed before play and their brother Ben appearing for Zimbabwe today brings back memories of their late father Kevin, who did not live long enough to see his sons develop into professional cricketers. I knew Kevin when I worked for the local paper in Northampton and he was playing for Northants.
He was a hard hitting allrounder, and an even harder bloke, chiselled out of the unforgiving world of Zimbabwean cricket of the late 70s, early 80s. He was ahead of his time in terms of fitness and demanded high standards from his team-mates. 'Kevin always believed he could do better than anyone else. That's what made him. He was a positive guy,' said Allan Lamb, his Northants team-mate. Curran collapsed and died while out for a run in 2012.
Completely off point… but I had that bat.
Left-arm quick Richard 'Richie' Ngarava has first dibs on the new ball. Three slips and a gully for the right-handed Crawley. He is an over the wicket merchant and starts with a couple, back of a length, targeting the ribs. Crawley gets off the mark from the second, tucking it round the corner off his hip for a single.
Ngarava goes fuller for the left-handed Duckett, who defends punchily and is rewarded next ball with a pie, short outside off stump and he slaps it cross-batted for four, not so much a cut as a baseball club. The next two balls are much better, shaping in and moving away. The second of them beats Duckett's edge but the ball prior hit him on the back thighpad, in line but too high.
Next up Blessing Muzarabani, the 6ft 8in quick.
Out come the openers. It's taters in Nottingham and SCJ Broad says it's too fresh o swing too much. And if anyone should know about Trent Bridge overheads, it's him (and Dick Hadlee).
The Northants batsman opens the batting for Zimbabwe.
'He's ended up at the same destination but by a different path. There's a lot of emotions, it's been a amazing ride,' says oldes brother Tom.
The weather forecaster on TMS tells us that it could rain all day on Saturday! That's no good, given we only have four days to get a result. I am really hoping the game doesn't finish very late on day four, because Forest are playing Chelsea at 4pm in a very significant game just over the road. The train home to London that evening could be interesting...
Scyld has Trent Bridge in his top 10cricket grounds and hard to disagree but it does look a little bit different this week with the pavilion shrouded in canvas and scaffolding. The club are upgrading facilities for players and officials, adding a new gym, unisex dressing rooms, hospitality and changing areas to meet ECB criteria in order to retain Test status.
There is a lot of competition to host Test cricket and Trent Bridge is the most northerly ground holding an Ashes Test in 2027; not Old Trafford or Headingley, two of the most famous grounds in the world.
Despite its history and attractiveness, the pavilion has 'long failed' ECB standards by lacking wheelchair access and the space for expanding cricket staffs and medical facilities which have grown since the days of Larwood and Voce pulling on their boots and stubbing out a fag on the way to the middle.
Ben Curran, Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine (capt), Sean Williams, Sikander Raza, Wessly Madhevere, Tafadzwa Tsiga (wk), Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tanaka Chivanga, Victor Nyauchi.
Fpur frontline seamers and the spin of all-rounder Raza in the XI.
It has been a long time [out]. It's not affected me too much as our last Test match was in December. It's been four or five months of rehab and I'm looking forward to getting out there.
We would have had a bowl as well because of the overheads but Trent Bridge is a good place to bat.
And have put England in to bat.
Greetings from Trent Bridge! The outfield looks very parched and the pitch looks pale (a couple of days ago it had a greener tinge), but there's a real chill in the air. and the clouds are quite low. The place doesn't look quite right, with the Pavilion undergoing a major refurb.
England's slip fielders have been doing their catching practice in front of the press box. Zak Crawley has been stationed at gully, which is new. Until he broke his hand last year, he was a solid second slipper. I have a working theory that he lost a bit of his confidence when he was moved out of the cordon, and didn't bat as well. Maybe I am meeting him more than halfway there, given his record...
Henry Olonga recites the lyrics of a song he recorded when he was a Zimbabwean cricketer at the height of his career in the early 2000s and before he was exiled from his country.
Our Zimbabwe is a patriotic, idealistic ballad, a love song to his country. It was released at a time of political violence in 2001 as the thuggish Robert Mugabe regime promoted land grabs and farm invasions.
'One of the lines goes: 'Though I may go to distant borders, My soul will yearn for this my home, For time and space may separate us, And yet she holds my heart alone.' And then another is: 'As we all stand to build our nation, This our land, our Zimbabwe'.'
Olonga pauses. 'Literally some of the words in that song… they speak of where my life is now but when I listen to the song again it's somewhat triggering.'
Two years after releasing the song he and Andy Flower wore black armbands during the 2003 World Cup to protest at the 'death of democracy' in their country.
Olonga received death threats, was thrown off the team bus and forced to flee Zimbabwe. He has never been back. He has not seen his father, who is now in his mid-80s and still lives in Bulawayo, for more than 20 years.
They've gone from Tetley Bitter to Vodafone, Brit Insurance, Waitrose, NatWest to Cinch and now Toyota.
England's batsmen have been put on notice for Thursday's Test against Zimbabwe after Ben Stokes all but confirmed that Jacob Bethell will come straight back in against India next month.
Ollie Pope and the inconsistent opener Zak Crawley will therefore start the summer under immense pressure.
Bethell emerged from left field to play all three Tests on the tour of New Zealand in December. Despite not having a first-class century or ever batting in the top order for his county, Warwickshire, he averaged 52 at No 3, including making a second-innings half-century in all three matches.
Sam Cook has been presented with his England Test cap by none other than Stuart Broad. If anyone knows how to bowl on a fresh cloudy morning in late May at Trent Bridge…
No Test ground in England has such demotic origins as Trent Bridge, the product of professional cricketers like William Clarke, who moved into the Trent Bridge Inn after marrying the landlady, Frank Parr whose famous tree has now gone, William Gunn, who made cricket bats with his mate Moore, and Arthur Shrewsbury who captained England more than anyone before amateurs took over. Cricket in Nottingham remains the game of the people.
To see where it ranks and his other nine, click here.
A four-day Test is a euphemism, a polite way of saying the opposition is not good enough. They can't win but if they have luck with the weather they might sneak a draw.
On behalf of all concerned I hope Zimbabwe get into this match, at least a foothold, as Ireland did in their two four-day Tests against England at Lord's in 2019 and 2023. Tim Murtagh ran through England on the opening day, and Mark Adair and Andy McBrine swashbuckled a stand of 163 to avert an innings defeat.
Zimbabwe's best chance of gaining a foothold today might well lie in bowling this morning. In the last few weeks of cloudless skies we may have forgotten the word 'overheads' but they exist over Trent Bridge before the toss and start.
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
Good morning and welcome to the first morning of a seven-Test English summer which begins at Trent Bridge with an amuse bouche of a first Test against Zimbabwe for 22 years, followed by the hors d'oeuvre of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's and the entrée of five matches against India. For England it's not exactly a fresh start after a strange winter in which they lost 2-1 on Pakistan, mugged on raging bunsens after that 454-run stand between Joe Root and Harry Brook spooked the hosts into baking and raking the pitches to stave off another administrative purge…at least for a month or so.They went on to beat New Zealand 2-1 but lost their captain, Ben Stokes, to his second hamstring tear of the year, and lost an enormous amount of good will since the 2023 Ashes because of some deluded statements before and after defeats in India when the closeness of the matches at points during their span bred hubris. And you don't need a Greek to tell you what the gods do to those with excessive pride. Not to mention becoming great golf bores of today.Now they are on a mission to win back hearts and minds and that should not be too difficult. We have to remember the very low esteem in which they were held after the crushing defeat in the 2021-22 Ashes series and how transformational Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have been, liberating some talented players and reigniting fire in the veterans to scale new heights and consistently play the most entertaining cricket of a lifetime. Zimbabwe, who have played only 26 Tests in a decade and won only three of them as they try to re-establish themselves after the long Mugabe nightmare, have some talented players – notably Blessing Muzarabani, Sikander Raza and the redoubtable Sean Williams – but should not detain England long in Nottingham in May with Sam Cook champing at the bit to press his credentials as the new Matthew Hoggard and Gus Atkinson hoping to pick up where he left off. Doubtless England will win but how they win may be just as important, runs in particular for Zak Crawley, who has become the avatar of 'Bazball', would help the cause.