{"id":21905,"date":"2025-05-21T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.netbet.co.uk\/blog\/?p=21905"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:24:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T10:24:21","slug":"cricket-england-vs-zimbabwe-test-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.netbet.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/05\/21\/cricket-england-vs-zimbabwe-test-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket: England vs Zimbabwe Test Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The international summer in English cricket gets started this week as Ben Stokes\u2019 men host Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trent Bridge in Nottingham will host the enticing contest, which will be played over four days &#8211; not five &#8211; between May 22 and May 25.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This match is the only real preparation Stokes and his players will have ahead of the five-game Test series against India, which starts on June 20.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a one-day series vs the West Indies between this Test and the aforementioned series against India, though that will provide little help for those focused on the longest format of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, this is an important clash for England and NetBet Sport has provided a full <a href=\"https:\/\/sport.netbet.co.uk\/\">betting<\/a> preview, complete with the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/sport.netbet.co.uk\/cricket\/\">cricket odds<\/a> from our website and app.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if your bet on England vs Zimbabwe is coming in with time still left in the match, our <a href=\"https:\/\/sport.netbet.co.uk\/promotions\/cash-out\/\">Cash Out<\/a> feature allows you to collect potential winnings early.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>England vs Zimbabwe Preview<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">England captain Stokes is all set to make his comeback against Zimbabwe after suffering a serious hamstring injury in the Test series against New Zealand at the end of last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stokes therefore missed the recent T20 and ODI series defeats to India, as well as the ill-fated Champions Trophy campaign, where the Three Lions lost all three matches to Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With that in mind, the England players will be eager to make a positive start to the summer following those disappointments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The squad picked for this one is full of the usual suspects in Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts and Shoaib Bashir.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there are two new faces in Sam Cook and James Rew, while fast bowler Josh Tongue is also back in the fold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brydon Carse and Mark Wood each miss out through injury, though the former is hopeful of making the India series.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for Zimbabwe, they are hoping to pull off one of the biggest shocks ever seen in Test cricket and England will be well aware of the need to not underestimate them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The African nation beat Bangladesh in a Test match just last month and they possess some quality players, namely middle-order batters Sean Williams and captain Craig Ervine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blessing Muzarabani is also a top-quality fast bowler, while opening batter Ben Curran &#8211; the brother of Sam and Tom &#8211; will be desperate to make his mark on English soil.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>England vs Zimbabwe Odds<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>*All odds are subject to change<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsurprisingly, England are huge favourites to claim the win at 1.11. Zimbabwe are priced at 34.00, while the draw is 5.90.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>England vs Zimbabwe Betting Tips<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1st Innings England Top Batter &#8211; Joe Root @ 4.00<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arguably England\u2019s greatest-ever batter, it is always wise to back a top performance from Root. He also averages 70.92 at Trent Bridge, which is a seriously good record.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1st Innings Zimbabwe Top Batter &#8211; Sean Williams @ 4.33<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zimbabwe\u2019s opening batters could be blown away in English conditions with the ball moving around, but Williams can come in and shore things up. He averages 44.71 in Tests, which is higher than every player in the England squad bar Brook and Root.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highest Individual Score Over 148.5 @ 1.83<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trent Bridge is often a paradise for batters in all formats of the game. If England bat first and one of the big hitters gets set, a huge individual score beckons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When you choose NetBet Sport, you can enjoy a whole range of top-quality sports and markets. Whatever you choose, always remember to bet responsibly. Here at NetBet, player wellbeing is our number one priority \u2013 check out our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/help.netbet.co.uk\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/14719792432668-Safer-Gambling\">Responsible Gambling tips and tools page<\/a>\u00a0for more information. When the fun stops, stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The international summer in English cricket gets started this week as Ben Stokes\u2019 men host Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match. Trent Bridge in Nottingham will host the enticing contest, which will be played over four days &#8211; not five &#8211; between May 22 and May 25. This match is the only real preparation Stokes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[720,2605],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","category-preview"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cricket: England vs Zimbabwe Test Preview - NetBet UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"England vs Zimbabwe is a one-off Test match to kickstart the summer. 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