Bangladesh v. England - 1st. Test

[Donny]

Bowling the main concern for England

Andrew Miller

There was a time, not so long ago, when Test cricket involving Bangladesh was an affront to its good reputation. Second-string teams would help themselves to career-best performances without so much as a by-your-leave, and at one stage Bangladesh had shuffled haplessly to 11 innings-defeats in a row.

But to watch the way in which England have prepared for tomorrow's first Test at the Bangabandhu stadium, Dhaka, is to be convinced that that era is drawing to a close. Certainly Bangladesh's Test record of 23 defeats in 24 matches is likely to get worse before it gets better, but there can be no doubt that the "Test" has been restored to the cricket that they play.

In their two weeks in this country, England have been tested by the conditions – alternating between gaspingly hot and torrentially damp. They have been tested by the facilities (a solitary indoor net some 20kms to the north of Dhaka), and by the sights they have seen along the way. But most of all, they have been tested by the opposition, the majority of whom have been members of Bangladesh's U19 squad. It augurs well for the future, and makes the present task just that little more enticing.

Most observers are agreed that they have never seen a fitter or better prepared England squad that this. It is one from which complacency is a notable absentee, not least because everyone is too knackered at the end of a day to embrace it. And yet, despite all the gym sessions and throw-downs and shuttle-runs, there are still some areas of preparation that cannot be covered by fitness levels, and these continue to cause England's selectors sleepless nights ahead of tomorrow's curtain raiser.

The balance of England's attack is the central issue. Hardly an interview goes by without mention of "Freddie" Flintoff, the unquestionable linchpin of the team but a man who will not be making an appearance until the one-day series at the earliest. "With Freddie in the side, the team picked itself," admitted Michael Vaughan in his pre-match press conference. In his absence, however, opportunity knocks for several fringe members of the squad.

The most obvious beneficiary is England's new No. 6 and first-change bowler Rikki Clarke, a man whose career trajectory has something of the Jimmy Anderson about it – in the early part of last season, he was still playing club cricket for Guildford. Now, however, he is now on the brink of his England Test debut, although the susceptibility of his seam-bowling has created one or two knock-on effects in the lower reaches of England's order.

Most pertinently, and it is an issue that neither Duncan Fletcher nor Vaughan appeared to have fully resolved, is the question of whether to play two spinners. Ashley Giles, who cut a lonely figure during last summer's seam-dominated series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, has frequently mentioned how much he enjoys bowling in tandem with another slow bowler, and in Gareth Batty he seems to have hit upon a like-minded, but subtly different partner. In the second innings of their recent warm-up match at the Bangabandhu, they shared six wickets – a performance that all but bowled England to victory.

But seam bowling on these slow, low pitches is back-breaking work, and England will be loathe to entrust the entire load to two frontline men. Matthew Hoggard, returning from injury, is guaranteed to start, while Steve Harmison's height and pace have unsettled more than one batsman on this tour so far, even if he has not been whizzing past their nostrils as much as he might like. But, given the strength-sapping conditions, and the doubts about Clarke's stock-bowling role, it is conceivable that Martin Saggers might sneak past Richard Johnson into the starting XI. As he and Hoggard demonstrated last week, when the President's XI collapsed to 57 all out, an ability to swing the ball is an asset that few Bangladeshis have as yet mastered.

The batting is more settled, although Mark Butcher's throat infection is a continuing cause for concern. He had been expected to take part in an optional net session on Sunday afternoon, but was instead advised by the team doctor to rest, and so missed the sponsor's pre-match dinner as well. There seems little chance of him starting if he doesn't improve soon - to subject himself to the intense heat of a Dhaka afternoon would make his symptoms all the worse. Worryingly, his nominated stand-in is Paul Collingwood, who has faced just three balls all tour.

For the Bangladeshis, however, they merely hope to use the coming days to display their game in a new light. For Dav Whatmore, their new coach and the man who masterminded a similar turnaround in Sri Lankan fortunes, victory remains improbable – it is the manner of their defeat that counts. "I don't give a damn about losing," he said. "I just want to be able to make a close and truthful evaluation of individual performances."

In their most recent Test, against Pakistan at Multan last month, they were deprived of victory by a desperate last-wicket stand. Nine of that team remain for this Test, with two new caps added to the squad. The first of these, the left-arm spinner Enamul Haq jr, is just 18 years old and has attracted praise for the maturity of his bowling in the first match of the tour. But the other new boy, Aftab Ahmed, was derided by the local press as a kneejerk selection after his 45 in the same game. He is, they say, too much of a one-day slogger for such an important match. It is a measure of how far they have come in so short a time.

Teams
Bangladesh (probable)
1 Hannan Sarkar, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Rajin Saleh, 5 Alok Kapali, 6 Khaled Mahmud (capt), 7 Khaled Masud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Tapash Baisya, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11Enamul Haque jnr.


England(probable)
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

[Donny]

After the first day's play was drastically cut by weather conditions, Bangladesh are 5/87 after 42 overs, into the second.

Steve Harmison is the main problem for the Bangers with 3/25 from 16 overs. Kapali is the top scorer, so far, with 28.

[Donny]

Bangladesh did well to score 203 with their wicketkeeper, Mashud, saving face for his team as he top scored with 51.

Harmison bowled 21.5 overs to claim 5/35. Hoggard took 3/55.

England are 0/38 after 14 overs with Trescothick (36) leading the way.

[Donny]

After 31 overs, England are cruising at 0/111.

Well, Trescothick is cruising. He is 77 and Vaughan is 30,

[Donny]

The two English openers took their stand to 137 when Vaughan went for 48.

Then Rahman grabbed two vital wickets with the score on 140 - Butcher and Hussain. Both notched ducks. Rahman has 2/34.

Trescothick has continued his fine innings and moves on to 113 n.o. as England go to 3/174

[HAL]

Can you speak any foreign languages?

[Donny]

Trescothick out for 113. England are now 4/185 with Thorpe on 17 n.o.

[Donny]

Bangladesh were staring at a potentially mountainous total from England when they were 0/137 but they knuckled down and took 6/88.

Thorpe is hanging in on 51 n.o. and England are 6/247, a lead of 44.

[Donny]

England are 9/267 as Mortaza chimes in with the wickets of Thorpe (64), Batty (19) and Harmison (0). The Bangers are in a fighting mood.

[Donny]

Even with Giles (19) and Hoggard's 28 for the last wicket, Bangladesh still took 10/158 today. An excellent effort.

Mortaza took 3/41 and Rafique, 3/84.

The Bangers are 1/12 at stumps - 80 behind.

[Donny]

The rumours of Bangladesh's improvement are true

The Wisden Verdict by Andrew Miller

Ever since they went to Australia and avoided being slaughtered, rumours have been circulating of an upturn in Bangladesh's fortunes. Today, England discovered just how genuine these rumours are turning out to be.

It is a measure of the challenge that Bangladesh now pose, that England left absolutely nothing to chance in their preparation for this match ... and still they are being forced to scrap for every session. Yesterday, they emerged triumphant in all three, but today the Banglas bit back.

There had been several warnings of Bangladesh's abilities in the warm-up games, not least when England contrived to lose four wickets for no runs against the Board President's side on this very ground. Today's slump was less statistically staggering, but three wickets for three runs in three overs is impressive by anyone's standards. The real contest, however, took place in the afternoon session.

To watch Mohammad Rafique, 34, and Enamul Haq junior, 16 by some accounts, twirling away in unison, was to be reminded just how sparse the English spin-bowling cupboard has become. Dav Whatmore had complained, in his early days as coach, that Bangladesh could not produce spinners worthy of the name. But whereas England have searched high and low to little avail, it seems Bangladesh were simply not looking hard enough. In Enamul, they have unearthed a gem.

Enamul's first three overs on Wednesday night were deposited for 23 runs. But today he struck with his sixth delivery, to remove a subdued Marcus Trescothick, and he never looked back. As he and Rafique twirled England into knots after lunch, Graham Thorpe's importance to the team was shown up all too readily. It had been expected that his true test would come against Muttiah Muralitharan later on the tour, but as Enamul spat the ball out of the footholds, Thorpe's awareness of the gaps and fluency of footwork came to England's rescue once again.

Quite what happened to the floodlights at the close is anyone's guess. But the sight of the England team sat in a semi-circle, hoping against hope for a resumption, spoke volumes for how hard they are being pushed in this match. Steve Harmison's late wicket took some of the gloss off Bangladesh's day, but England were not content to call it quits and resume refreshed in the morning. They had scented a long-overdue opening, and were willing to indulge in a little bit of petulance to push their prospects.

[Donny]

The Bangers are in the lead and batting well on 2/132.

Bashar made 58 before falling to Batty and Sarkar is 48 n.o. Their lead is 40.

[Donny]

Sarkar out for 58 and Bangladesh is 4/161. Their lead is 69.

Harmison has 2/30.

[Donny]

6/219 with Rahman on 36 n.o.

The lead is 127 which probably has England in front but another 70 odd runs will make it interesting.

[Donny]

At stumps, Bangladesh were 6/245, a lead of 153.

Time will probably run out but if the Bangers could get a few more, tomorrow arvo could be anything.