Key occasions
Its Sunny. Its Friday. My four-going-on-24-year-old daughter demanded this music 3 times in a row on the best way to faculty.
Play is set 5 mins away at Trent Bridge and certainly across the shires because the County Championship rumbles alongside. Tanya Aldred is on her method to Grace Road as we talk and is helming the CCLive weblog.
And Andy Bull were given his Theroux on and went for a wander round Trent Bridge:
Simon Burnton has the Crawley perspective coated:
Ali’s document from Trent Bridge pleasingly alluded to The Thick of It on an afternoon that used to be very a lot now not tricky tricky lemon tricky for England.
There have been sunglasses of The Thick of It after Ben Stokes gave his press convention an afternoon out from this one-off Test in opposition to Zimbabwe. When the minister – or on this example the England captain – stated Jacob Bethell can be directly again in for the sequence in opposition to India, this it seems that referred to the squad and now not essentially the XI.
That Stokes sought to make this explanation during the again channels in all probability stated extra in regards to the job to hand than England’s true ideas at the matter. No captain would ever need to ship a participant out believing no matter they accomplished can be inappropriate, particularly now not a vice-captain and selfless cricketer similar to Ollie Pope.”
Preamble
James Wallace
Well, that used to be brutal.
Hello and welcome to day two of England v Zimbabwe from Trent Bridge.
England gathered 498 runs the day before today in opposition to an increasingly more beleaguered Zimbabwe bowling assault who have been left a bowler mild when Richard Ngarava suffered a possible again spasm and needed to depart the sector on a golfing buggy within the afternoon consultation. Ben Duckett made a horny easy century and Zak Crawley spent some a lot wanted time within the heart to make his first century in an England blouse since his Old Trafford magnum opus within the 2023 Ashes.
Ollie Pope then peeled off a slick century that reminded everybody of his abilities but additionally gained’t do this a lot to reduce the naysayers who assume he can’t do it in opposition to the massive boys of India and Australia. Against the previous Pope averages 24 and the latter simply 16.
The strawberry blond Surrey guy has simply been talking to Ian Ward on Sky and gave the impression lovely chilled out, if truth be told, admitting that he doesn’t concentrate to the noise and the perception that his position could be underneath danger from the wunderkind Jacob Bethell. Pope used to be that exact same wunderkind as soon as, however now has 55 Test fits underneath his belt and a task as vice captain within the Test aspect. A double ton right here gained’t harm however a rating in within the first Test in opposition to India in June will supply masses extra succour.
Play will get underway at 11am – in just below 30 mins, as ever do drop us a line and tell us how you’re shaping up this Friday morning.