England’s Sam Cook handed debut in one-off Test vs Zimbabwe

London, May 20 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) England Men have named their XI for the upcoming Test match against Zimbabwe which saw uncapped Sam Cook included in the squad for the one-off starting on May 22 at Trent Bridge.

Cook, 27, has been one of the most consistent bowlers in county cricket while turning out for Essex in recent years. He has picked 321 first-class wickets at an average of 19.85 and impressed on the England Lions tour of Australia over the winter, taking 13 wickets across three matches.

Skipper Ben Stokes is fit to lead England after undergoing left hamstring surgery last year and will be playing his first competitive outing since the Test tour of New Zealand in December and it will be interesting to see if he takes up the duties with the ball as well.

This historic fixture marks Zimbabwe’s first Test on English soil since 2003 and is set to launch England Men’s international summer.

Seamer Josh Tongue has also earned a place in the XI, having last featured during the Ashes in 2023. After overcoming a series of injuries, he has been in impressive form this season with 15 wickets at an average of 24 in the county championship. Tongue and Cook, along with Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts, form the fast-bowling department for England.

In terms of batters, Zak Crawley retains his position despite having a horror series in New Zealand. Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, and Harry Brook will make for a strong top order and will hope to get in good touch before India tour England for a five-Test series starting June 20 at Headingley.

England Men’s Test XI vs Zimbabwe:

1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 James Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Josh Tongue, 10 Sam Cook, 11 Shoaib Bashir

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