England v Zimbabwe: Blessing Muzarabani ready for England in Trent Bridge Test

There are a few things to know about Blessing Muzarabani.

He's very tall - all of 6ft 8in - and he's a lovely man. Softly spoken, with a near-permanent smile. He also takes wickets. Lots of them.

If it is slightly disingenuous to trumpet the pace bowler as the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, external this year - Zimbabwe's four Tests are more than any other team have played - it is more instructive to look at his achievements along the way.

In the first three of those Tests the 28-year-old took a six-wicket innings haul. Only four other seamers in history have managed that. Two of them, George Lohmann and Tom Richardson, did so in the 19th Century. The other two are all-time greats Imran Khan and Malcolm Marshall. Good company.

Now Muzarabani takes on England.

If Zimbabwe win at Trent Bridge this week it will go down as one of the greatest upsets in Test history, but that does not mean Muzarabani cannot do damage to Ben Stokes' men. Think of Tim Murtagh taking five for Ireland to bowl England out for 85 at Lord's in 2019.

Muzarabani will have back-up, sharing the new ball with Richard Ngarava. They have been friends since they were children.

"We grew up together," Muzarabani tells BBC Sport. "We lived really close. We played street cricket, schools cricket and age-group cricket together. We know each other really well and we've always been close.

"I get a little bit nice, but Rich is on you. He's more aggressive, especially if we're not getting the wickets. He brings something different."

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