Ollie Pope has made Ben Stokes eat his words ...Middle East

Only Test, day one: England close on 498-3 (Pope 169*, Duckett 140, Crawley 124) with Zimbabwe yet to bat

TRENT BRIDGE — You have to feel for Ollie Pope. Despite scoring a century on the opening day of this one-off Test against Zimbabwe you do wonder whether it will make any difference at all when it comes to keeping his place for the marquee series of the summer against India.

Given the comments from Ben Stokes on the eve of this four-day match in Nottingham, when England’s captain strongly hinted Jacob Bethell would walk straight back into the team on his return from the Indian Premier League, Pope’s hold on the No 3 position is precarious.

"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

It is understood that Stokes, once he saw his words in print and presumably realised the effect it might have on Pope, attempted to clarify things in private by stating he meant Bethell would be a shoe-in for the squad for the India series not the actual XI.

The veracity of that clarification will be clear when the team for the first Test against India starts at Headingley on 20 June.

However, it already seems that the decision has been made. The question about Bethell’s recall to the XI was clear. And the answer left little doubt that England want him in the team for the 10 upcoming Tests against India and Australia that will define this Bazball era.

That does not automatically mean Pope will be dropped, there might be other ways to fit Bethell in.

Yet he cut the figure of a condemned man as he sat on the balcony for half the day waiting to bat as openers Zak Crawley, another man under pressure, and Ben Duckett put on a stand of 231.

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

He was then the subject of an enthusiastic lbw appeal first ball after missing a delivery from Wessly Madhevere that spun sharply. He survived yet it brought back memories of his dismissal for a duck against Pakistan in Multan back in October in an innings where England scored 823 for 7 declared.

Despite that nervy start, Pope soon settled into his rhythm, reaching 50 in 48 balls and ending the day unbeaten on 169 as England piled up the runs against an attack of questionable quality on a featherbed pitch.

As well as Duckett and Pope, Crawley, the other man in the firing line if Bethell comes back in, also brought up a century, his first since the 2023 Ashes, before departing for 124 in the final session.

Given Crawley’s fine record against Australia and the Bazball brains trust will be reluctant to break up his opening partnership with Duckett, it seems unlikely he will be dropped anytime soon despite some horrendous recent form. His century will hopefully infuse him with confidence for the challenges ahead.

It was only the fourth time in England’s Test history the top three batters had all reached three figures.

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No wonder the actual value of the runs is debatable given the weakness of the opposition.

Seasoned observers believe this Zimbabwe team, ranked 10th in the world and playing their first Test in England since 2003, are perhaps the worst touring team to come to this country since 1962, when Pakistan were heavily beaten in four out of five Tests during a summer when rain wiped out much of the cricket.

The Ireland team swept aside by 10 wickets at Lord’s in 2023 are also contenders.

It will do Pope no favours when people point to the fact he scored cheap runs then too, making a career-best Test score of 205 against the Irish at the Home of Cricket.

This is unfair given Pope also hit 196 against India at Hyderabad early last year to set up perhaps the greatest win of the Bazball era.

Yet his poor record against Australia, an average of 15, and the feeling that Bethell is destined to be a permanent fixture in the XI count against him.

The response to his current situation here in Nottingham was classy. Safe in the knowledge he would have been criticised for not scoring runs against this attack, it might have been easy for him to have folded under the pressure, especially as he also knew any runs he did score would be written off as “cheap”.

So whatever his fate after this Test, Pope can say he did everything he could to hold onto his place when the writing was on the wall.

Ben Duckett goes on the attack against Zimbabwe (Photo: Getty)

Duckett makes Zim wait

On a gruelling day in the field, Zimbabwe finally made their first breakthrough in the 42nd over when Ben Duckett, on 140, hit the off-spin of Wessly Madhevere straight to cover. At 2.57pm, it had taken the tourists three hours and 27 minutes of play to get their first wicket.

Back Crawley

After a horrible run of recent form, Zak Crawley got to three figures shortly after tea, scrambling a single off Victor Nyauchi to bring up his fifth Test century. It took 145 balls and wasn’t always pretty but the opener, who offered a caught and bowled chance to Blessing Muzarabani on 10, cashed in against a weak attack to hit his first Test hundred since the 2023 Old Trafford Ashes Test.

Injury scare

There wasn’t much to trouble England on a one-sided day but when Crawley was hit on the hip by a delivery from Tanaka Chivanga in the 63rd over the opener struggled to run between the wickets before having a long break for treatment. He was out soon after, too, when trapped lbw attempting to sweep Sikandar Raza.

Pope proves point

Who knows if it will be enough but Ollie Pope answered questions about his place in the XI by hitting a century. At one point, when he was 30 off 18 balls he looked on for possibly beating Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball record for the fastest England century. Alas, he got nowhere near but an eighth Test hundred – against an eighth different team – came in 109 balls when he cut Raza for four.

Stat of the day

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett’s 231-run partnership was the highest by an England opening pair since 1960, when Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Pullar hit 290 against South Africa at The Oval.

“This England group have not reached a Test championship final, they have not won an Ashes series, and they have not beaten India. You get a sense that in the next 10 Test matches, the legacy of what England have delivered over the last two or three years will be judged. It is now time to win trophies.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan on BBC Test Match Special

Bazball-o-meter: 7/10

Okay, so England went at 5.65 runs an over and racked up an impressive 498 for three but this Zimbabwe attack was terrible. It meant only sensible rather than super-aggressive cricket was needed.

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