The first home Test of England against Zimbabwe has ended up as a one-sided affair. The hosts looked like a well-oiled machine, both in the batting and the bowling departments. Batting first, England has posted 565/6 with Zack Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Ollie Pope all scoring tons. And with the ball, Shoaib Bashir ended up with nine wickets, helping Ben Stokes’ side win by an innings and 45 runs. Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott acknowledged that Zimbabwe has not been the toughest opposition, but was also wary of the fact that the top three do go in with full confidence for the upcoming series against India on the back of the runs they have scored.
“The top three of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope made hundreds. Well done. It is not their fault the bowling was so poor. It was exactly what any batsman wants early season: easy runs. Runs breeds confidence, confidence sets you up for the summer. Form and confidence is everything. They did their job but, if we’re honest, it was not a great advert for Test match cricket. It flattered one team and knocked seven bells out of the other one. But England’s top three go into the Test series against India full of confidence. They have no excuse now,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
“But we cannot say suddenly that Crawley and Pope have solved the technical and mental issues that have dogged their careers because the Zimbabwe bowling was so average. They were medium pacers not good enough or consistent enough to expose any flaws in Crawley and Pope’s batting. We will have to wait until the India series to see if there really is any improvement against better bowlers. That will be the real test and give us a better idea of where they stand,” he added.
1st Test, Headingley (Leeds): June 20-24; 2nd Test: Edgbaston (Birmingham): July 2 to 6; 3rd Test: Lord’s (London): July 10-14; 4th Test: Old Trafford (Manchester): July 23-27; 5th Test: The Oval (London): July 31-August 4
