Sam Cook to prepare for England test debut by watching Man United in his hotel room

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — England will give fast bowler Sam Cook his debut in the four-day, one-off test against Zimbabwe starting on Thursday at Trent Bridge.

The 27-year-old Cook has been one of the most reliable wicket-takers in English county cricket for several seasons and gets his reward with a long-awaited call-up in an inexperienced pace attack.

Fellow seamer Josh Tongue returns to the team for the first time in two years after missing the whole of last season with a pectoral injury, while Gus Atkinson completes the fast-bowler unit at the start of just his second summer of international cricket.

Fit-again captain Ben Stokes is expected to offer some overs after a lengthy rehabilitation period from his latest hamstring tear.

Cook said he will spend the eve of his test debut in his hotel room watching his favorite soccer team — Manchester United. United is playing Tottenham in the final of the Europa League, Europe's second-tier club competition, on Wednesday.

“I'll be watching it quietly in my room trying to not get too emotional. Hopefully they come out on the right side of that but I'm not expecting too much at the minute,” said Cook, with a nod to United's poor form in the Premier League.

Asked if he'd prefer a United win or a five-for on debut, Cook said: “That's an easy one — I'd take the five-for, definitely.”

The test, Zimbabwe’s first on English soil since 2003, launches the international summer for England, which also plays India in a test series.

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England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket