If England choose Chris Silverwood ahead of Andrew Caddick then they have 223 caps between them. If Caddick plays, add nine. Zimbabwe weigh in at a remarkable 139 caps already, which, when you consider they are barely out of Test cricket's fourth form and then remember the rude reluctance of some countries to give them a game, is testament to their consistent selection or, depending on your angle, their lack of alternatives.
The Flower brothers are ever-presents, 20 out of 20. So is Alistair Campbell, the captain. David Houghton would have been an ever-present had he not broken a bone in a foot while in New Zealand at the start of the year.
Houghton is a terrific batsman because of his keen games-player's eye, his flexible hands, which manoeuvre the ball to parts that fielders cannot reach, and his cool, competitive head. His best performance of 266 is tidy stuff in anyone's scorebook and his average of 48, put together against other teams' rather more incisive bowling, is darned good.
The left-handed Campbell has been a fly-by-night, a gifted strokemaker with an infuriating habit of pressing his own selfdestruct button. A couple of months back, Campbell's district team, Mashonaland, dropped him and he would have played second XI cricket had not a sudden injury leapt to his defence. This humiliation, along with a couple of earthy chats with the convener of selectors, John Traicos, and coach, Houghton, appears to have focused his mind. On Sunday, in the one-day international, he was a difficult opponent thanks to his more organised technique and his skilful ability to find the gap in the field.
The Flower brothers, well, they are dour people. A proper couple of uncompromising battlers who are deadly serious about their cricket and who have spent a lot of their short time as yearround professional cricketers on the wrong end of the whip. Now, they feel, is the time to start cracking it for themselves.
One, the elder, Andy, the wicketkeeper and, until this autumn, the captain, has a real talent and flair for the game and yet a surprising inability to smile. The other, Grant, who opens the batting, has rather less natural ability but masses of guts and more concentration.
Andy averages 41 in Test cricket, with a highest score of 156. Grant averages 31, which includes an unbeaten 201 against Sri Lanka here in Bulawayo in September. Only Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart have Test-best efforts to compare with these and neither can boast a double hundred.
England's bowling attack is not rich with match winners. If it can deal ruthlessly with these four Zimbabweans, however, it will win its country the Test for surely, at last, the English batsmen will make runs on what appears to be a good, even pitch. Yes, to the bookies for an England win by a head and after quite a fight.