England have decided to hand a debut to 27-year-old fast bowler Sam Cook as they named their playing XI for the upcoming one-off Test against Zimbabwe, starting from May 22. The Zimbabwe Test will be a good audition for the newbie English bowler before India arrives for the high-profile five-match Test series from late June.
Cook has been phenomenal in the County Championship over the years, consistently being in the top wicket-takers chart. The medium pacer has the ability to make the ball talk and is known for moving the ball both ways.
Apart from Cook, England have decided to recall Josh Tongue back into the red-ball setup after almost two years with his last outing coming during the 2023 Ashes. He too has been in good form, having claimed two five-wicket hauls in the three rounds of the County Championship.
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Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett retained their places with Ollie Pope taking the No.3 slot. The middle-order is made up of Joe Root, Harry Brook and skipper Ben Stokes with Jamie Smith as the wicketkeeper at No.7.
Notably, Stokes will be making a return from a hamstring injury and a subsequent surgery that he underwent last December which forced him to miss Test matches against Sri Lanka and left him unfit for the subsequent series against Pakistan.
Shoaib Bashir will be the lone spinner in the bowling attack and was virtually primed to be an automatic selection after being the only slow bowler selected in the 13-man squad.
England Playing XI for One-Off Test vs Zimbabwe: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Sam Cook, Shoaib Bashir
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