England to face Zimbabwe ahead of India Series at Trent Bridge after 18 years

England and Zimbabwe are all set to face in a rare four day test series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on 22 – 25 June. This historic test series marks the two teams’ first series in 18 years, serving as a preparation for the India series while for Zimbabwe as a way of resurging into the test form. 

Zimbabwe has had several factors hindering the test phase with political and other factors resulting in a turbulent test hiatus from 2005 and 2011. The international side also had played only four tests between 2022 and 2024 but now face more outings in the current season. 

The England Cricket Board is paying the Zimbabwe side the touring fee as they are the first test opponent for England this summer and in order to sustain the bilateral test ties, said Richard Gould, the ECB Chief. 

Zimbabwe are returning to the test fields in England after drawing a bilateral series against Bangladesh for 1-1, their first test win since 2021. While the No.2 test playing nation will be treating this as a preparation for a meticulous and tight five test series against India and the upcoming Ashes in Australia. 

In their ‘Bazball era’, the English side’s head coach Brendon McCullum said that the team is ready to ‘shoot for the stars’ with the squad welcoming the Essex’s Sam Cook and Josh Tongue returning. Ben Stokes and Shoaib Bashir’s return are yet to be answered. Zimbabwe also have South Africa and New Zealand in their longer run in the test format.