England begin a huge few months for their Test team on Thursday when they entertain Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match at Trent Bridge with both sides looking to showcase their credentials ahead of what is to come for them.
England will be looking to shake off the rust ahead of a busy summer and a massive winter while Zimbabwe will be relishing the chance to take on an established nation on a famous ground and aim to cause a big upset.
England
The England Test team are going to be judged plenty over the next eight months or so and so now is the time for them to step up and not just win matches but to produce dominant displays in which they shut the opposition out. They are going to come up against tougher opponents with India and Australia their next two series after this one but if they can put down a marker of their credentials with the bat and ball it will do them well.
England have gone in with the strongest possible batting unit available to them, which is no bad thing, but they are still searching for the best combination with the ball now that Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are a thing of the past. Their batters will probably get an easy ride in this match with more attention on the bowlers, especially the new ball ones, with an eye on The Ashes at the end of the year beginning to take priority.
Zimbabwe
It is good to see Zimbabwe given the chance to play in England once again. This is an improving Zimbabwe side across all three formats under the guidance of Justin Sammons. They have a number of batters who are useful at the second tier level who will be looking to showcase their skills against an elite side and some bowlers who have been around the county scene and who will be looking to force their way into the big competitions so we can expect Zimbabwe to give their all here.
This is the first of five Test matches that Zimbabwe will play against recognised opposition this summer with two against South Africa and two more against New Zealand to come so this is a big time for the red ball side. They go in here off the back of reasonably competitive showings against Afghanistan and Ireland in the last six months and shared a series in Bangladesh last month so they certainly have the potential to be competitive here.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the series (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
England have confirmed their XI well in advance of the match as they often do and that means that we know that Ben Stokes is fit to play and that Sam Cook will make his debut. Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue will complete the seam attack.
Zimbabwe are choosing to name their XI on the morning of the match and aren’t giving anything away but Brendan Taylor had a spell with Nottinghamshire in the past and might get his international recall at what could be considered his home ground.
Betting
I like a couple of bets over the course of this Test match. I don’t think we can get heavily involved in it because motivation for England will be questionable while we don’t really know how Zimbabwe will handle the occasion but the tourists have had a warm up match which should serve them well and with that in mind I expect their batters to cope in this one. They might be outclassed overall but I don’t see them being shot out for tiny scores like some teams are when there is a gulf in class. England might only bat once but their target will be to bat big and show it can be done ahead of the India series. Zimbabwe have the potential to dig in with the bat and on a ground where the pitch usually plays well and the boundaries are accessible I see no reason why 890.5 runs can’t be covered across the match.
I always feel in these matches that taking someone down the order of the lower ranked side can prove dividends when it comes to the top batter and the person I’ve gone with here is the wicket keeper Tafadzwa Tsiga, arguably the best batter for Zimbabwe in the warm up match against the county XI. He made a pair of 66s in that match so he is clearly hitting the ball well and if his top order are dismissed cheaply then his confidence could see him go close to the top score here. Tsiga has passed 50 roughly one in every five innings in red ball cricket and with most of this side playing in England for the first time he might be the value at 14/1 to steal the show with the bat.
Tips
Back Over 890.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back T.Tsiga Top Zimbabwe 1st Innings Batter for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Bet365
