Pope, Crawley and Duckett centuries flatten Zimbabwe

Only Test, Trent Bridge (day one of four)

England 498-3: Pope 169*, Duckett 140, Crawley 124

Zimbabwe: yet to bat

Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to field

Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope responded to pressure on their places by joining Ben Duckett in making centuries as England utterly dominated Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.

Opener Crawley and number three Pope are most vulnerable if Jacob Bethell returns to the England team for the series against India later in the summer.

But they made the decision harder for the selectors as England piled on 498-3 on the first day of the one-off Test, the most runs scored on the opening day of a Test in this country.

Duckett led the way with 140, adding 231 for the first wicket with Crawley, England's highest opening partnership in a home Test since 1965.

Crawley followed with 124, his first Test century in almost two years, and Pope completed the triumvirate with a majestic unbeaten 169.

All this after Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to field under a leaden sky. When the clouds parted, England cashed in on a pristine batting surface.

Zimbabwe were not helped by a back injury to opening bowler Richard Ngarava just after lunch, but this was mis-match.

In a truncated four-day Test, England can now push to bowl out the tourists twice without having to bat again.

This was the beginning of a defining year for England in Test cricket, with series against India and Australia lying ahead. The challenge and intensity of those encounters will be far above a sedate and one-sided opening day in Nottingham.

Zimbabwe have not played a Test in this country for 22 years. They are reestablishing themselves as a Test nation, with a total of 11 matches in 2025. While this was a Test in name, it was not a contest.

From England's point of view, the intrigue surrounded the conundrum at the top of the order after Bethell impressed in New Zealand during the winter.

With the 21-year-old absent at the Indian Premier League, on Wednesday England captain Ben Stokes appeared to suggest Bethell would come straight back into the team later in the summer by saying: "Put two and two together, you probably know what's going to happen."

It was later clarified that Stokes was referring to Bethell making an instant return to the England squad, rather than the XI.

Still, both Crawley and Pope would have known that their places are under pressure and could not have done more to make their case.

Given the opposition and the conditions, the question is whether England have learned anything to inform the decision that lies ahead.

Under the heavy sky, it was a fair decision for Zimbabwe to insert the home team. Stokes said he would have done the same.

But after Duckett slammed left-armer Ngarava through the covers for four in the first over of the match, it was a run-scoring procession.

Zimbabwe's attack, including imposing seamer Blessing Muzarabani, were incapable of applying any sort of pressure. Feasting on a plethora of loose deliveries, England scored at well above five an over without breaking sweat.

Duckett, on his home ground, was the aggressor, whipping into the leg side when the tourists drifted on to his pads.

After a wretched tour of New Zealand just before Christmas, Crawley was more measured, but still leaned into handsome cover drives when Zimbabwe overpitched.

Left-hander Duckett's fifth Test century came from exactly 100 deliveries. He had just hoiked off-spinner Wesley Madhevere for his second six when he slapped the same bowler to short cover.

Pope was immediately into his stride, 31 runs the most he has ever taken from the first 20 balls of a Test innings.

When Crawley reached three figures, it was his first Test century since the all-time great 189 against Australia in the fourth Ashes Test of 2023. The second-wicket pair shared 137 until Crawley, struggling with a hip problem, was lbw sweeping spinner Sikandar Raza.

Pope peppered the off-side boundary, often with cuts and occasional cheeky deflections over the slips. His eighth Test hundred came against an eighth different opponent. Australia are the only team he has failed to reach three figures against.

Joe Root replaced Crawley and became the fifth batter to reach 13,000 Test runs when he moved to 33, then pulled Muzarabani to long leg. Pope pushed on against the second new ball, the highlight being an impudent flick over fine leg for six off Victor Nyauchi.

England went past the most number of runs scored on the opening day of a Test in this country, 475 by Don Bradman's Australians in 1934, though fell short of their own worldwide first-day record of 506, set in the famous first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "Zak Crawley played with a lot of control. He played the ball later. I have seen his interception points, and they're a lot closer to his eyeline.

"When he plays badly, he plays out in front of himself so there is a gap between bat and ball. He doesn't control his drives like he did today.

"I was impressed with Ollie Pope because of the reports that Ben Stokes has said Jacob Bethell will be back in. Whether he has been misquoted or not, that was out in the public domain for Pope to read.

"One of the questions marks over Pope particularly for the first 20 balls is he can be a bit skittish. I thought he looked in control and that is probably down to the attack.

"The only thing Pope could do this week was get a hundred. If he got a 60 or 70 that would have been a failure this week."