England rekindle Zimbabwe rivalry ahead of testing summer

The restoration of cricketing ties between England and Zimbabwe will become complete on Thursday when Trent Bridge plays host to a standalone four-day test between the two nations.

For Ben Stokes' men the unique fixture provides a tune-up before India visit in June for a marquee five-test series, while for Craig Ervine's tourists it could be the only chance in their careers to play an international on English soil.

The last red-ball encounter between the two sides came in 2003, James Anderson's debut series, and they have not met in any format since 2007.

"(England) is the only team I haven't played against, so (this) would basically be my debut men's international game against them," 38-year-old Sean Williams, Zimbabwe's premier test batsman with five hundreds and an average of 44, told Reuters after supplanting Anderson as world cricket's longest-tenured player.

"When we talk about a 20-year career, that is an incredible thing to think about."

Both cricket and diplomatic relations soured by the mid-2000s, when Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe embarked on an economy-crippling land redistribution programme which displaced thousands of white farmers and left the African country isolated from the West.

Number-two ranked England will look to 'Bazball' exponents Harry Brook, Joe Root and Stokes to bat their opponents into submission and ease the burden on an inexperienced seam department in the abbreviated fixture. 

Gus Atkinson, on 11 caps, will lead an injury-hit attack missing veterans Mark Wood and Chris Woakes as Essex mainstay Sam Cook, with 321 first-class wickets at 20 apiece, prepares for a debut.

"He's kept knocking the door down, fair play to him," said England selector Luke Wright.

For the 10th-ranked visitors to defy all