‘We are a passionately multiracial team’: Zimbabwe return to England transformed

Visitors have endured political chaos and miserable results over 22 years but cricket is finally a national game

Twenty-two years is a long time, even in a sport that measures its games in days and its history in centuries. The last time England played a Test match against Zimbabwe, in 2003, Rob Key was in the middle order instead of the managing director’s job, Jimmy Anderson was a 20-year-old tearaway playing in his very first series, and the England and Wales Cricket Board was just about to launch the world’s very first professional Twenty20 tournament. Zimbabwean cricket has changed, too. Back then the team was in the earliest stages of a transformation that was meant to turn cricket from a minority game, played by the small white population, into a sport that better represented the whole country.

They have been hard years, riven by player strikes, political interference, maladministration and a miserable drop-off in results. The team temporarily withdrew from Test cricket, suspended their domestic competition and were repeatedly censured by the International Cricket Council. They lost so many players through emigration to England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, that even now you could build a hell of a good Zimbabwean squad out of people who are making a living overseas. And yet, at the end of it all, the process was, by one important measure, a success. The squad that came on tour in 2003 was majority white, the team that has come this year is majority black.

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Ben Stokes quits alcohol to help hamstring injury rehabilitation

  • England Test captain to return against Zimbabwe
  • ‘It’s just getting harder to do everything’

Ben Stokes has stopped drinking alcohol during his latest injury rehabilitation in an effort to be firing on all cylinders for England this summer. The Test captain is set to make his comeback on Thursday in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, having been sidelined since December after tearing his left hamstring in New Zealand.

He rushed back from a similar injury last year but his recovery this time after an operation has been painstakingly managed and Stokes has left no stone unturned to fulfil his vow to return in peak physical condition. Speaking to the Untapped podcast, the 33-year-old said: “After my first major injury, I remember the shock of it, after the initial adrenaline had stopped, thinking: ‘How has this happened? We did have a bit of a drink four or five nights ago, could that have played a part? It wouldn’t have helped.’

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Jamie Smith: ‘To win an away Ashes would be every England cricketer’s dream’

England’s wicketkeeper-batter on the innings that changed his career, the influence of Kevin Pietersen and a huge year of Test cricket ahead

“When the pressure’s on,” Jamie Smith says intently on an otherwise languid morning at the Oval, “it definitely gives you more of a focus. You can’t get away from the fact that, when the game is on the line, you want to be the one that takes it on and wins it. Look at some of the best players that have played the game – and the impact they’ve had in situations where they’ve been needed the most.

“Look at Stokesy [Ben Stokes, his England captain] and some of the innings he’s played where he’s rescued the side from defeat or led them to victory. They’re the things that get remembered. So it would be nice to be the sort of player that can do similar.”

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England expect most players will choose country over IPL for West Indies ODIs

  • League playoffs clash with international assignment
  • Buttler, Bethell, Jacks could have allegiances tested

England expect most of the five IPL players picked for their one-day international series against West Indies to report for international duty rather than complete the rescheduled tournament.

The IPL’s league phase will now conclude on 27 May, two days before England play their opening game against West Indies at Edgbaston, meaning that Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton, whose teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention, will certainly be free to play for their country.

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County cricket talking points: Notts soar higher as Lancashire sink lower

Nottinghamshire hammered Hampshire to take a 12-point lead at the top, while Lancashire fell to another bad defeat

By the 99.94 Cricket Blog

A second consecutive win – a 366-run evisceration of Hampshire – lifted Nottinghamshire 12 points clear at the top of Division One. Haseeb Hameed’s team are clearly the outstanding team in the Championship with more than a third of the season already gone.

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Foakes hits unbeaten century while Sussex see off Worcestershire

His first of the season, and as elegant and composed as ever, but the only centurion in Surrey’s innings, whereas Warwickshire had three. Surrey 399-9, trail by 266. I wonder if Warwickshire will risk their bowlers again and ask Surrey to follow-on.

An early wicket at Hove, where the nightwatchman Ben Allison is gobbled up by Hudson-Prentice. Worcs 120-4, need another 231. The smart money with Sussex.

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Notts beat Hampshire, Essex v Yorkshire and more: county cricket – live

It looks hot at Hove, the sun umbrellas up around the ground, slips picking at their sleeves. Gibbon thinks he’s had a driving Coles caught behind, but no cigar. Sussex 94-3, a lead of 198.

A Sunday morning start to proceedings at Trent Bridge after Hampshire initially lose the ball following a wild delivery from Brad Wheal. Liam Patterson White has reached fifty, the partnership with Jack Haynes an invaluable 113.

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County cricket day two: Warwickshire’s batters go big against Surrey – as it happened

Ed Barnard and Zen Malik celebrated centuries as Warwickshire put up a first-innings total of 665 against Surrey

When Abbas played for Hampshire his trousers always used to be slightly too short. The Notts kitman/woman seems to have measured his legs correctly. A magical slip of a man. At the other end Brett Hutton is an old fashioned, underrated, broad of beam tricksy English seamer. A pleasing combination and not easy to face on this pitch.

And there is Abbas’s first wicket for Notts! Gubbins a 13-ball duck. Hants 31-2.

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England Lion McCann fires up Notts but champions Surrey struggle

He may have been due a rest anyway but Latham and Webster in Warks team means no Michael Booth, their second-leading wicket taker (and tormentor of Harry Brook last week). Booth, Zimbabwe born, is qualifying for England but still an overseas player at present.

More on the PSL’s shift to the UAE.

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India captain Rohit Sharma retires from Test cricket before England series

  • Decision comes after three poor red-ball series
  • First of five Tests start in June at Headingley

Rohit Sharma has retired from Test cricket, his announcement coming hours after reports emerged that he was to lose India’s red-ball captaincy. The 38-year-old, who quit T20 international cricket after leading India to victory at last year’s World Cup, will continue to represent his country in one-day internationals.

“Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket,” Sharma posted on Instagram. “It’s been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years. I will continue to represent India in the ODI format.”

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County cricket day three: Warwickshire beat star-studded Yorkshire

The Bears and Leicestershire secured victories inside three days on another busy weekend of action

After pulling a muscle on 99, diving for the line during a quick single, Cox completes his hundred muscling a reverse-sweep before hobbling off to field concerned phonecalls from England. A fabulous hundred. Essex 251-4 and a lead of 312.

How is Warwickshire’s chase going? Pretty well, although Hamza Shaikh has just been caught by YJB off new boy Buckingham and Davies lost his off stumps to a screamer from Ben Coad. Only 125 more needed.

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Sam Cook selected for England Test squad as injured Chris Woakes misses out

  • Essex bowler, 27, gets first call-up for Trent Bridge Test
  • Four-day game against Zimbabwe starts on 22 May

Sam Cook has been selected for England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe later this month – reward not only for his excellence in the County Championship but also a commendable, unwavering desire to play the longest format.

Aged 27 and having taken a truckload of wickets for Essex at just 18 runs apiece, Cook could have been forgiven for wondering if the call would ever come. During the most recent winter, with six-figure offers from three different franchise tournaments, he could also have been forgiven for putting his bank balance first.

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Stick or twist? England’s selectors weigh up options for Zimbabwe Test

If Zak Crawley’s form is a worry the middle-order is not, but Ben Stokes’s role as an all-rounder remains unknown

It may be viewed as an amuse-bouche before the main course of India in June, but England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe is fast approaching. Selection is imminent – for the four-day match Trent Bridge that gets under way on 22 May and a training camp in Loughborough that precedes it – and after four rounds of the County Championship, the contenders are beginning to take shape.

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County cricket talking points: Notts take top spot but Surrey are stalking

Josh Tongue was on form again as Nottinghamshire beat Sussex to move ahead of the pack in Division One

By the 99.94 Cricket Blog

Josh Tongue’s second five-fer of the season will have England’s chief selector, Luke Wright, licking his lips at the prospect of getting the tall pacer back in the phalanx of fast bowlers all countries need these days. For now, Haseeb Hameed is having his say about his speedster’s work and Nottinghamshire sit atop Division One as a result.

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