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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 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.

For Muzarabani and Ngarava, the first exposure to organised cricket was the Takashinga club, just south of Harare. A predominantly black club, it is a powerhouse of cricket in Zimbabwe, responsible for many internationals.

“I started playing there when I was six,” says Muzarabani. “The club has given me so much, to be the cricketer I am today.

“Some of the facilities, you have to pay, but with Takashinga the ground was available for us for free. I have a lot of respect for Takashinga and everyone there.

“It’s a lot of young guys from humble backgrounds that love the game. I can say a lot about Takashinga. It is a club that has given a lot to Zimbabwe cricket.”

Muzarabani did not seriously consider the prospect of a career as a cricketer until he had a growth spurt about the age of 18 – “I was always tall, then I really started getting tall.” At 21 he was a Test cricketer, a debut against South Africa on Boxing Day in 2017 only his sixth first-class match.

By then, though, the wheels were in motion for Muzarabani to alter his path.

With the help of former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, agent Rob Humphries and Winston Weekes, a legendary figure born in Barbados and with connections to Zimbabwe, Muzarabani had the opportunity to pause his international career and join county cricket as a Kolpak player.

In 2018 Muzarabani played for Derbyshire’s second XI and, in the next week, impressed enough in Northamptonshire’s reserves to be taken on.

Back trouble restricted Muzarabani’s playing time with Northants, but the injury did not affect the learning process.

On the field, Ben Sanderson showed him how to bowl a full length in English conditions. Off the field, he formed a tight bond with Saif Zaib, Jack White and Ben Curran, the latter now a Zimbabwe team-mate.

Even when he could not play for Northants, the county still put Muzarabani to work.

“When I was injured I was touring the sponsorship boxes at Northampton,” he says. “I’d go in there and start conversations with fans. It really helped me to communicate, how to carry myself as a professional – outside cricket, just being a good human being.”

Brexit ended the Kolpak era and Muzarabani returned to the plan to resume his international career. He was back in Zimbabwe colours in late 2020, a “better bowler” for his sojourn in England.

Now his career is really gathering pace. A growing reputation as a white-ball operator has earned Muzarabani an Indian Premier League deal with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, under coach and compatriot Andy Flower. Muzarabani will head for India straight after the Test in Nottingham.

The whip in Muzarabani’s action has led to comparisons with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. With his height and skid, there may be more similarities with former England pace bowler Steven Finn.

Zimbabwe’s chequered past means there are few very meaningful statistics to overhaul, although Muzarabani has the chance to carve his niche. This year no team play more than Zimbabwe’s 11 Tests, meaning he can build from his current 51 wickets towards becoming only the second bowler from the country to reach 100.

The other to top three figures is Heath Streak, his 216 unlikely to be overhauled. Even Streak cannot match Muzarabani’s average of 21.84, by far the lowest of any Zimbabwe bowler to have sent down at least 60 overs in Test cricket.

Zimbabwe have not played a Test against England since 2003.

Before then some of the country’s most famous cricketing moments came against the English: Eddo Brandes at the 1992 World Cup, England coach David Lloyd proclaiming “we flipping murdered ’em” in the first drawn Test with the scores level in Bulawayo in 1996.

And 2025?

Jude Bellingham, a midfielder for Real Madrid and England, is expected to miss at least the first six weeks of next season due to shoulder surgery following the Club World Cup.

Real have scheduled the operation for when the American football championship is over, and the 21-year-old has been dealing with a persistent shoulder issue since 2023.

After initially missing two games for both Madrid and England at the end of 2023 because of a shoulder injury sustained against Rayo Vallecano, the former Birmingham City midfielder has now had strapping on his shoulder.

Between June 15 and July, the expanded 32-team Club World Cup will take place in the US.

Bellingham is expected to miss the entire preseason and at least the first six weeks of the new campaign, which would also include missing England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September.

With questions still unanswered regarding the selection of players for the Club World Cup, England manager Thomas Tuchel will announce his squad for the qualifier against Andorra and the friendly against Senegal on Friday.

Bellingham made a major splash after joining Borussia Dortmund for £115 million in his first season in Spain.

With 23 goals in 43 appearances, he helped Madrid win the La Liga title and the Champions League.

Charity Women in Sport has urged sport’s leaders to do more for young black girls.

They “fall out of love” with sport in their teens, according to the report, and girls from other backgrounds face more challenges than girls from other backgrounds.

In the UK, twice as many black girls as white girls are dreaming of becoming elite athletes, according to a recent report from the charity, but black girls are the least likely to do so.

According to the report, 48% of black girls who were adolescented do not enjoy playing sports because of issues like racism, misogyny, and rigid sporting structures.

Tessa Sanderson, a Women in Sport ambassador and the women’s javelin gold medalist for Great Britain at the 1984 Olympics, describes the study as “truly heartbreaking.”

Sanderson continued, “We must create a culture that lifts black girls, not one that excludes them.”

The charity calls for “urgent action” from sports industry leaders, coaches, and policymakers, including better representation of black women in all of their organizations.

Other suggestions include: educating paid and volunteer staff about diversity, implementing anti-racism and anti-misogyny policies, collecting and using data on gender and ethnicity participation, expanding community initiatives, and giving black girls’ additional needs more flexibility in their talent paths.

There is no denying the benefits that playing sports can bring to the sport, according to Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive officer of Women in Sport. “Sports providers must sit up and listen if they are trying to do well by black girls,” Hilborne said.