*Official* Bangladesh in England

[pasag]

Would've given it to him myself (226, 36* & 1/16 a pretty good case, tbh), but it's been probably more of a test (ha, see what I've done there?) for our bowlers than our batsmen, so can see why they went for Finn. Plus he's a hometown boy too.

Banglas' batting is definitely improving, but their seam attack is, at best, holding steady.

Also a pretty good catch. Certainly a strange decision.

 

[Pothas]

Not the best days test cricket but it was Lords so I enjoyed it anyway, was just a shame Bangladesh could not have scored a few more runs, would have been nice to see Pietersen for a bit longer, Strauss played well but despite his batting actually being relatively pleasing I don't think I would want to watch Trott for much longer.

Bangladesh opening bowling was so dire, did feel sorry for Shakib and was certainly their best bowler.

 

[Jono]

That's the game. Genuine improvements in quality from Bangladesh, in batting at least, they're really getting better. I hope we don't hear anything about them being "gallant" or "spirited" though. Their captain still smacks filth to point when they're trying to save a test match.

Doesn't mean most of the rest of the team weren't.

And fair to say Shakib has been the one being spirited with the bat for long enough anyway.

 

[NasserFan207]

Bowling wise, Bangladesh are probably the worst test nation I've ever seen or heard off. Not up to standard at all, and they really need to do something about it.

I'd rather watch a weak test nation with poor batting than poor bowling. At least with a good attack you feel like they always may have a slight chance.

 

[Aritro]

The indications 18 months ago were that the Bangladesh bowling would be reasonably close to test class by now with Shahadat having a test strike rate of 53, and Mortaza supporting him with the new ball and a raw but seemingly talented Rubel Hossain coming in at first change.

Sadly Mortaza's injuries coupled with Shahadat's inexplicable implosion and Rubel's complete failure to show even marginal improvement are a huge let down for our fans.

The batting's coming along reasonably well but I'm pretty downcast about the tame way we collapsed this morning with genuinely talented bats like Shakib, Mushfiq and Mahmudullah surrending their innings without a fight.

I expect the Old Trafford test to be an utterly one-sided affair if reports of the pace and bounce of the pitch are to be believed. Shafiul's selection in the side should provide some sort of improvement as he's got enough weapons in his armoury to take a few wickets in those sorts of conditions but I really do fear for the batsmen.

 

[stumpski]

A good wrist-spinner would make a big difference - is there one on the horizon, in the under-19s say?

 

[Uppercut]

Doesn't mean most of the rest of the team weren't.

And fair to say Shakib has been the one being spirited with the bat for long enough anyway.

None of the rest of the side took the responsibility of saving the match upon themselves either. Even Tamim played like he was there to impress and had no interest in the result. If England were batting out time to save a test match and Andrew Strauss came out and hit 102 off 97 balls people would say he was batting irresponsibly (albeit brilliantly) because it wasn't what was required. Neil McKenzie hasn't half the talent of Tamim, he scored a century off 400-odd balls in an almost identical situation two years back and saved the game in a series South Africa went on to win. With all the fully-justified hype over Tamim's phenomenal talent the fact that his innings was entirely inappropriate in the match situation has been ignored. Loads of talent, no application. Yet.

 

[Jono]

Didn't see a ball of the match, so won't disagree with anything you said there.

My point is if the captain does something irresponsible it shouldn't ping the rest of the team if they showed spirit and guts.

 

[Cruxdude]

None of the rest of the side took the responsibility of saving the match upon themselves either. Even Tamim played like he was there to impress and had no interest in the result. If England were batting out time to save a test match and Andrew Strauss came out and hit 102 off 97 balls people would say he was batting irresponsibly (albeit brilliantly) because it wasn't what was required. Neil McKenzie hasn't half the talent of Tamim, he scored a century off 400-odd balls in an almost identical situation two years back and saved the game in a series South Africa went on to win. With all the fully-justified hype over Tamim's phenomenal talent the fact that his innings was entirely inappropriate in the match situation has been ignored. Loads of talent, no application. Yet.

Tamim is like Sehwag and I think they both need to play strokes or else they end up losing their wickets without much on the board. I think Shakib is not doing justice to his talent with the bat though.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

A good wrist-spinner would make a big difference - is there one on the horizon, in the under-19s say?

Noor Hossain

Looked a bit erratic when he played U19s here last year and hasn't gone too well in the domestic stuff this summer.

There's a host of left-arm spinners as usual - Abdur Razzak, Enamul Haque, Saqlain Sajib, Mosharraf Hossain, Suhrawadi Shuvo. Mahmudul Hasan and Nasir Hossain bowl offies, but both are really middle-order bats.

Pace-wise, there is pretty much nothing. Save Syed Rasel's fairly unthreatening left-arm seam, what you saw out there for the last five days is probably the best around.

 

[Prince EWS]

Noor Hossain

Looked a bit erratic when he played U19s here last year and hasn't gone too well in the domestic stuff this summer.

There's a host of left-arm spinners as usual - Abdur Razzak, Enamul Haque, Saqlain Sajib, Mosharraf Hossain, Suhrawadi Shuvo. Mahmudul Hasan and Nasir Hossain bowl offies, but both are really middle-order bats.

Pace-wise, there is pretty much nothing. Save Syed Rasel's fairly unthreatening left-arm seam, what you saw out there for the last five days is probably the best around.

Don't mind the look of Shafiul tbh; did he get injured?

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Don't mind the look of Shafiul tbh; did he get injured?

Had almost forgotten him. No idea. Cricinfo is blank.

Dunno where Sajidul Islam vanished either. IIRC he swung it a bit (albeit at a snail's pace) back in NZ a few years back? Might have been slightly handy over here.

 

[Athlai]

Shuvo can't be too far away from the side, big fan of Shafiul as well. Good pace and has a few tricks up his sleeve.

 

[Sir Alex]

Tamim is like Sehwag and I think they both need to play strokes or else they end up losing their wickets without much on the board. I think Shakib is not doing justice to his talent with the bat though.

This.

Bangladesh wouldn't have in all probability got past 250 if they decided to grind out. They simply don't possess such batsmen and if defending is not your core strength, don't resort to it just because "tradition" says so.

 

[Top_Cat]

Batting time and pushing a game into the 5th day puts the opposition under way more pressure than a run-a-ball ton when you're already way behind. Who knows, had he shelved his shots a touch and gotten past 150, Bangladesh might have drawn the game or perhaps set England a nasty little target (although their bowling attack badly lets them down here).

I'm all for playing one's natural game but taking one's foot off the accelerator based on your team's position in the match is the difference between a Test match batsman and others. Even uber-psychos like Sehwag have done it. Brilliant as the knock was, it wasn't what Bangladesh really needed although it's hard to bag a young fella for a Lord's ton too much. Further, they probably needed it more from their captain than anyone else but it remains, a more cicumspect knock would have helped his team more.

 

[Sir Alex]

Batting time and pushing a game into the 5th day puts the opposition under way more pressure than a run-a-ball ton when you're already way behind. Who knows, had he shelved his shots a touch and gotten past 150, Bangladesh might have drawn the game or perhaps set England a nasty little target (although their bowling attack badly lets them down here).

I'm all for playing one's natural game but taking one's foot off the accelerator based on your team's position in the match is the difference between a Test match batsman and others. Even uber-psychos like Sehwag have done it. Brilliant as the knock was, it wasn't what Bangladesh really needed although it's hard to bag a young fella for a Lord's ton too much. Further, they probably needed it more from their captain than anyone else but it remains, a more cicumspect knock would have helped his team more.

Not really,

had he been opted for the Rajin Saleh approach, he'd have batted out Bang innings and perhaps finished at the same score. He needs to have someone who can anchor or take pressure on the other side. If he doesn't have that, it's better to hit out and score more runs and hope bowlers would do the job.

Funny how a better than run a ball century under extreme pressure from a 21yr old attracts criticism.

 

[NasserFan207]

Noones criticising his talent Alex. We're criticising his brain, or how he uses it.

There is no reason why someone as talented as Tamim shouldn't be capable of batting time if he needs to.

 

[pasag]

Kinda disagree, by racing towards the lead he put England on the backfoot, got rid of the deficit and put Bangladesh in a position of power when things were looking pretty gloomy for them. The more runs they made the longer England would have had to take chasing them down.

 

[Sir Alex]

He batted for 100 balls which is in itself creditable effort. But I agree, he could've carried on. But then, am not sure whether he would've lasted half that number of deliveries if he opted to block premeditated. It doesn't reduce anything from the significance of that innings. A real gem. It is one to be admired and not inspected closely just to find traces of mud and condemn.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Kinda disagree, by racing towards the lead he put England on the backfoot, got rid of the deficit and put Bangladesh in a position of power when things were looking pretty gloomy for them. The more runs they made the longer England would have had to take chasing them down.

Exactly. While you are there, there's nothing wrong with scoring runs. If he had've batted to the same point and gotten out without scoring runs, they probably would have lost by an innings. By making runs, he did still increase the chances of a draw, or even an unlikely victory if the required rate were enough to create a one day/T20 scenario.