The China Mail - Three things we learned from England's rout of Zimbabwe

A match scheduled for four days was all over before tea on the third, with England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir taking a Test-best 6-81 after Zimbabwe were made to follow-on.

But what is the importance of such a result for England ahead of the sterner challenges that surely await them in an upcoming five-Test series with cricket powerhouse India?

Below AFP Sport examines three key talking points that emerged from a largely lopsided contest in Nottingham.

Stokes underlines his all-round worth

If Ben Stokes's Test career continues on its present path -- a batting average of 35 and a bowling average of 32 -- some future fans may wonder what all the fuss was about.

But the raw figures alone will never tell the whole story when it comes to the England captain's priceless ability as a game-breaker.

At Trent Bridge, the all-rounder was playing his first game of the year in any form of cricket following his latest bout of hamstring surgery.

He rushed back from a similar injury last year and was unable play a full part with the ball.

But in Nottingham, with Zimbabwe in relatively comfort at 187-3 in their first innings, it was lively seam and swing bowler Stokes who took two wickets for no runs in 11 balls to leave the tourists struggling at 199-5, with the follow-on now all but assured.

Stokes' performance was perhaps the biggest plus point for England out of the whole game.

Not only is he an inspirational figure in his own right, Stokes' sympathetic treatment of Bashir was also central to the bowler putting a poor start to the county season behind him with a match-clinching return.

Top-order cash in

Several things can be true at once: It was a welcome sign for England that all of their top three batsmen made hundreds in a huge first-innings total of 565-6 declared that paved the way for victory.

Yet it was equally true those runs were scored on a good pitch against an utterly outclassed Zimbabwe attack that was further weakened when paceman Richard Ngarava left the field with a back injury after bowling just nine overs.

Nevertheless, openers Zak Crawley (124) and Ben Duckett (140) have often been accused of a lack of ruthlessness, while vice-captain Ollie Pope's 171 came amid speculation his place at number three was under threat when Jacob Bethell returns from franchise duty in the Indian Premier League.

Crawley's hundred was just his fifth in 54 Tests.

But Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum's faith in the 27-year-old Kent right-hander appears unshakeable, with his stunning Ashes 189 at Old Trafford two years ago still fresh in the memory of team management as they build towards a 2025/26 Test series in Australia.

Pace project concerns

England have set great store in assembling a battery of fast bowlers, but the likes of express quicks Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Olly Stone -- none of whom played in Nottingham -- have too often been injured.

And there were few reasons for any India batsman to be unduly worried by how England's pace trio at Trent Bridge -- Sam Cook, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue -- struggled to impose themselves on a placid pitch where 21-year-old opener Brian Bennett broke the record for the fastest Test hundred by a Zimbabwe batsman with a 97-ball century.

Test debutant Cook, an unusually conventional pick by the current England set-up in that his selection was a reward for years of consistent county form with Essex rather than an educated 'hunch' finished with match figures of 1-119.

It was a stark reminder of the gap left in the attack by the retirements of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, England's all-time two leading Test bowlers with a combined 1,308 wickets between them.

M.Chau--ThChM