Decision time for England Who will face Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge?

Test selectors must decide on Ben Stokes' role, whether to stick with Zak Crawley and if the time is right to give Sam Cook his long-awaited chance, writes Ali Martin

- Ali Martin

It may be viewed as an amuse-bouche before the main course of India in June, but England's one-off Test against Zimbabwe is fast approaching. Selection is imminent - for the four-day match at Trent Bridge that gets under way on 22 May and a training camp in Loughborough that precedes it - and after four rounds of the County Championship, the contenders are beginning to take shape.

Top order Had the New Zealand series before Christmas been five Tests, there is every chance Zak Crawley would have been compassionately hooked before its conclusion, such was his ordeal at the hands of Matt Henry. But England may well point to Crawley's average of 46.6 in his most recent outings against India and Australia as reason to persist. A couple of half-centuries for Kent has hinted at an upturn, but without a Test century since the 2023 Ashes Crawley still needs a score.

Ben Duckett is a comparative lock these days, but the No 3 position remains another talking point. Jacob Bethell made a bright first impression in New Zealand - three half-centuries, including a near-miss 96 in Wellington, were all eye-catching contributions - but he is with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League and a release to face Zimbabwe seems unlikely. After whipping players out of the IPL early last summer, England have promised their apparent superiors not to do it again.

It could, therefore, offer a reprieve for Ollie Pope, who performed admirably as an emergency wicketkeeper batting at No 6 while the management were getting all gooey-eyed about Bethell. The question here is what runs for Pope against Zimbabwe would mean for the India series beyond the standard "good headache to have" cliche.