Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

Your job as a player is to say to the selectors: 'I'm going to make your job hard.'

The selectors will be delighted because they want hard decisions.

Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley. I don't think Crawley's position is in doubt for that India series. He will be starting.

With Jacob Bethell coming back, there is a great threat that they will go back to Bethell because of what he did against New Zealand.

What Pope has done is say to Luke Wright and Rob Key: "I'm going to get a big score." Do you drop a big player who is maybe going to be on a double-century tomorrow?

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

I'm impressed with Ollie Pope because of the conversation and reports that Ben Stokes has said Jacob Bethell will be back in. Whether he has been misquoted or not, that was out in the public domain for Pope to read.

One of the questions marks over Pope particularly for the first 20 balls is he can be a bit skittish.

I thought he looked in control and that is probably down to the attack.

The only thing Pope could do this week was get a hundred. If he got a 60 or 70 that would have been a failure for Ollie Pope this week.

England opener Zak Crawley speaking to Sky Sports after his century: "Fantastic feeling to score a Test hundred and a great day for the team. I'm very pleased.

"With Ben [Duckett] playing as well as he did, I didn't feel pressure, and Popey [Ollie Pope] the same, so I just tried to get singles. I was comfortable just getting down the other end and watching them get fours."

On his century: "I always want a big score. I was disappointed when I got out - there were more runs there for the taking. I felt in a good rhythm.

"You know that you're under pressure and you want to score runs. I just want to play well - the most annoying thing is not playing well. I love batting. It's nice to find some rhythm. The wickets haven't been that easy for Kent and I've felt in good touch for some months now.

"I was pleased with the amount of singles I got - I found a lot of gaps with my ones. I didn't overhit the ball. My set-up feels really good. I could pounce on bad balls and get some more singles, which felt good. My set-up is huge for me. I've been trying to stand taller and have my hands nice and high on my back-lift. That's what I've been working on."

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

Zak Crawley played with a lot of control. He played the ball later. I have seen his interception points, and they're a lot closer to his eyeline.

When he plays badly, he plays out in front of himself so there is a gap between bat and ball. He doesn't control his drives like he did today.

If we're being honest, you see the ball is not hooping around in the morning, your facing that attack and there isn't a great deal of seam and there is no spin, you should be getting runs.

Today was the second time Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope have all scored hundreds on the first day of a Test.

They are the first top three trio to achieve that feat twice.

Ollie Pope was the England player under the most pressure coming into this match.

Jacob Bethell impressed as England's number three in New Zealand and is expected to come back into the squad against India next month which leaves Pope vulnerable.

Yes, he will face tougher tests but he has made sure England's decision is a tough one.

He ended the day on 169 so still could add more runs in the morning.

Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

You can see Zimbabwe have ability, but playing on this stage, there are 10,000 people here. These young bowlers are not used to this.

Zak Crawley was more patient than his opening partner Duckett.

He has had a poor run - a wretched series in New Zealand, dropped by his SA20 franchise and a tough start to the county season - so was in need of some runs.

The Zimbabwe attack is weak but Crawley took advantage to score his first hundred since July 2023. That should lessen the chatter around his place for a while.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Chief Cricket Commentator on Test Match Special

I'm not sure it was the worst decision by Zimbabwe to put England in, but it doesn't look great when you look at the score.

Ben Duckett was the first of England's batters to reach three figures.

He batted as he does - nudging, cutting and pulling to run after run.

There was gloom around early on which is what persuaded Zimbabwe to bowl first.

You could see the logic and England may have batted like this regardless. Zimbabwe just didn't get enough deliveries in the right area in the first session.

It meant Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley but on 231 for the first wicket.

Vic Marks
Former England spinner on Test Match Special

It was always liable to be a one-sided contest with the ball.

498-3 is a substantial score. I don't know how much these runs mean for the England players.

As dominant a day as you could wish to see ends with one final boundary.

Ollie Pope walks off with 169 runs to his name. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley got hundreds too.

Oooft. Ollie Pope is almost bowled by Tanaka Chivanga as the ball cuts back.

Two balls to go...

Vic Marks
Former England spinner on Test Match Special

That was a lovely shot, but it wasn't a great ball.

When Ollie Pope gets in he plays with such great authority.

As Ollie Pope and Harry Brook clobber a boundary apiece, the clock at the ground is showing 18:30 but that seems a little hasty.

There will be one more over in the day.

This is already the most runs scored on day one of a Test in England but Ollie Pope and Harry Brook are going to have to get a wriggle on if they are going to 500.

Brook has come out in a watchful manner. A push for a couple is followed by solid defence.

Joe Root wasn't impressed with himself after this...

Blessing Muzarabani will be a handful when he goes to the IPL after this match. He is into his 19th over of the day, it's late on and his team have been given the run around but still manages to get the ball to climb and thud into the wicketkeeper's gloves during this maiden.