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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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 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. 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.
Author: Rob Smyth (now) and Tim de Lisle (later)