We now know it takes 22 years for the England and Wales Cricket Board to develop a conscience with regard to fellow travellers – the time since Zimbabwe, this week’s opponents at Trent Bridge, played a Test match against the England team.
Zimbabwe gained Test status in 1992 and Thursday’s encounter will be their 124th match in that format. But while it is a welcome end to a lengthy drought it is not the full red carpet. For starters, it is a four-day game and not five; and for seconds it is not at Lord’s, the venue every visiting team used to experience even for one-offs like this.
So why the long hiatus and why now in breaking it? Until the mid-2000s, Zimbabwe punched above its weight in producing cricketers of quality. Think Andy Flower, Heath Streak and Dave Houghton, not to mention the emigres Graeme Hick, Gary Ballance and the late Kevin Curran. Intriguingly, two of Curran’s sons (Tom and Sam) have played for England while the third (Ben) represents Zimbabwe and could play in this Test.
Blatant corruption by Zimbabwe’s cricket board, linked heavily to President Mugabe and his cronies, caused a rapid decline in both standards and the willingness of other countries to play them. As political interference in the team became standard many of Zimbabwe’s leading players quit or went on strike. Basically, a corrupt government turned the country into a pariah state and dragged the cricket team down with it.
The result was that Zimbabwe did not play a single Test between 2006 and 2011 after the International Cricket Council withdrew both funding and Test status. Eventually, a return to the fold occurred though a second ban, this time in 2019, saw them barred from participating at ICC events after two board officials were found to have breached the anti-corruption code. That culture of ‘Graft,’ as political cronyism is known in Africa, is now thought to be behind them, hence England’s largesse in offering them this match.
Zimbabwe will also receive a tour fee, a first for the ECB. Some say this is the product of a guilty conscience, England along with Australia and India getting the bulk of funds redistributed by ICC (the proportion is set at the value each country brings to ICC’s broadcasting deal).
Others believe it is expedience. The ECB’s TV deal with Sky includes six summer Tests, an awkward split in seasons where one series comprises five matches as is the case with India later in the summer. A one-off against Zimbabwe would therefore fulfil contractual obligations while simultaneously painting the ECB as one who has not forsaken them or Test cricket. A win-win for everyone, then, providing Craig Ervine’s team doesn’t spring any surprises.
They shouldn’t, despite the old adage that the shorter the game the more likely chance of an upset. Zimbabwe just don’t possess the quality of old. Also, they have only won once away from home in the last seven years, in Bangladesh.
They have some players worth watching, though, like beanpole seam bowler Blessing Muzarabani and wicketkeeper-batter, Tafadzwa Tsiga, who made 66 twice in the recent defeat to the Professional County Club Select XI. Muzarabani is 6ft 8in tall and while not quick he does provide that other sought-after attribute, steeple-like bounce.
The two most experienced players are Ervine and Sean Williams, both 39. Although they’ve been around the block it is unlikely they will have encountered anything as disorientating as Bazball.
Not that this much-vaunted way of playing, which is the signature style of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, has been one of unchecked progression. In making Test cricket more exciting and therefore more watchable, England have essentially removed the draw form the equation making five-day Tests a zero-sum game.
A four-day match reduces that likelihood which means England’s approach could be Bazball on steroids. That would equate to more risk than normal (which is through the roof compared to the last time Zimbabwe played in England) and an increasing chance for their opponents to exploit them, or not, depending on whether they can hold their nerve once the barrage starts.
Sam’s selection is a victory for figures over vibes
I hope Sam Cook gets a game on Thursday and not just because he’s an Essex player. While I’m all for finding quick bowlers who bang it in from a great height, cricket’s fascination comes from its variety of performers. And it needs skilled technicians like Cook who probe the error areas of batters and the security of their defences.
If he does play it will also be a tick for the old-fashioned way of choosing players. Under Rob Key, Test selection has gone from being obsessed with data to one of gut feel.
There is nothing wrong with selectors backing their judgment but Cook has been the standout bowler in County Championship for the past three years. Form and good figures, not the vibe around a four-over spell or a 30-ball fifty, is how players used to get picked for their country.
His career tally of 321 first-class wickets at 19.85 are incredible and appear as if from the era of uncovered pitches when batters would experience extreme jeopardy every time it rained. Cook’s drip-drip accuracy, as well as his ability to hit the seam, means he challenges batters in ways most are unused to in the modern era of bash and thrash.
Test pitches tend to be benign and bowlers like Cook, accurate, 83-85mph, have tended to be overlooked in favour of high pace and the fad for ‘making things happen’. Yet, South Africa’s Vernon Philander had a fine Test career wobbling the ball about at around 80mph (64 Tests, 224 wickets at 22), so it is possible to be a match-winner and not be express.
Cook’s problem though is the opposition. Do well against Zimbabwe and people will shrug and say, ‘Well it’s Zimbabwe.’ Do anything less than well and the refrain will be, ‘He’s not up to it.’
Opportunity knocks, but how hard really depends on your opponent. On the other hand, Jimmy Anderson made his debut against the Zims back in 2003 (taking five for 73 ) and he’s now a knight of the realm.
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