The first day of the Test summer at times felt more like a charity match, but Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope were in no mood to take pity.
Comments from Ben Stokes on the eve of this well-meaning but mismatched Test against Zimbabwe suggested that Jacob Bethell – currently at the IPL – would resume at No 3 against India next month, which sounded ominous news for one of the top order.
England tried to clarify Stokes’s remarks, insisting he meant Bethell would return to the squad but not necessarily the team. But the narrative was unavoidable: when Craig Ervine won the toss and chose – reasonably enough – to bowl under grey Nottingham skies, neither Crawley nor Pope could afford to fail.
The fact that each scored an accomplished century could yet turn what head coach Brendon McCullum has called a ‘good headache’ into a full-blown migraine. Who on earth do the selectors leave out now?
The sense that the afternoon had turned into a glorified bat-off between an opener who averaged eight in New Zealand before Christmas and a No 3 with a poor record against India and Australia – England’s next two opponents – meant that a sparkling 140 off just 134 balls from Ben Duckett passed by as unobtrusively as the River Trent.
But Stokes and McCullum spent the build-up to this game declaring their determination to move to the next level, and if that means omitting one of the players they have spent the last three years buffing and bolstering, so be it. England will not regain the Ashes by avoiding awkward conversations.
Ollie Pope reached 50 from 48 balls and his eighth Test hundred from 109 at Trent Bridge
Joe Root needed just 28 to reach 13,000 in Tests, before miscuing a pull off Muzarabani
Craig Ervine won the toss and chose to bowl under the grey Nottingham skies on Thursday
The subplot lent some desperately needed context to a day when England did as they pleased in racking up 498 for three at 5.66 an over against a modest attack weakened further by a back spasm in the field to opening bowler Richard Ngarava. There were five maidens all day, and it was a surprise there were as many.
Duckett, deftly exploiting the unusual angles of his home ground, and Crawley, driving powerfully, set the tone with a punishing stand of 231 in 41 overs – England’s highest at home for the first wicket since 1960, when Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Pullar began with 290 against South Africa at The Oval.
Crawley and Pope then added an equally untroubled 137, before Crawley – hobbling after edging a ball into his hip – fell for 124. To highlight Zimbabwe’s plight, the man who walked out with the scoreboard reading 368 for two was Joe Root, who needed just 28 to reach 13,000 in Tests, and duly ticked them off before miscuing a pull off Blessing Muzarabani to fine leg. At stumps, Pope had 169 from just 163 deliveries, and was no doubt feeling better about life.
Crawley, too, was breathing a little more freely after his winter working-over by New Zealand’s Matt Henry – and grateful for the faith shown in him.
‘It’s awesome to be backed by two people I respect massively,’ he said. ‘They obviously think I’m the right man in the job, and I have that belief in myself as well.
‘When you’re playing for your country, you’re surrounded by good players and that pressure’s coming all the time. It’s a great thing for our national side at the moment. But I love being around this team, and I wish we could play every week.’
Whether yesterday’s events were good for Test cricket was another matter. Trent Bridge was half full, and less lovely than normal while the pavilion undergoes redevelopment beneath a blanket of scaffolding and tarpaulin. And Zimbabwe, in their first Test against England for 22 years, looked what they were: a committed but limited group of cricketers, many of whom would struggle at county level. As if to prove the point, they had warmed up with a heavy defeat at Leicester by a bunch of peripheral domestic players.
Muzarabani had little luck with the new ball, and the medium-pace Victor Nyauchi occasionally troubled Duckett from round the wicket. But England may not be gifted as many leg-stump half-volleys in 10 Tests against India and Australia as they were in one day here.
Crawley was breathing more freely after his winter working-over by New Zealand’s Matt Henry
Zimbabwe looked a committed but limited group in their first Test against England for 22 years
Day one confirmed that England are a stronger team when Crawley and Pope are both firing
Perhaps the only potential loser, despite Stokes’s pledge, was Bethell himself. His performances in New Zealand, where he was thrown in at No 3, revealed a special talent. Yet English cricket’s slavish desire to remain on the right side of India meant his central contract – signed at great expense to the ECB – was deemed less important than his loyalty to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. As a result, he has missed out on the chance to score a confidence-boosting Test hundred before the real stuff begins.
Instead, England will have a job explaining themselves to whichever player Bethell replaces against India at Headingley on June 20. The only scenario that spares both Crawley and Pope is to drop off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, and share the slow-bowling duties between Bethell’s left-armers and Root’s off-breaks. While Stokes will not care to admit it, that could strengthen his side in all departments.
For the time being, the first day confirmed that England are a stronger team when Crawley and Pope are both firing. It’s just that there has been plenty of misfiring too. Crawley’s first-innings average for Kent this season has been two, and he played within himself to the extent that he had contributed just a third of the total by the time he missed a sweep and fell lbw to Sikandar Raza.
Pope, by contrast, reached 50 from 48 balls and his eighth Test hundred from 109. If he wasn’t quite batting with the freedom of a condemned man, he did give the impression of a player who knew he had a point to make. Here’s hoping the selectors have stocked up on the aspirin.
