The general assumption before England’s tour of Bangladesh started was that the hardest part of the tour would be surviving the preconceived boredom of Bangladesh. Paul Collingwood wanted golf, New Zealander Adam Parore hoped his side wouldn’t have to play the Tigers for another good five years, senior English journalist Scyld Berry fretted that the series would be too easy, and there was plenty of onus on England’s young guns to fire against “soft” opposition.
Things haven’t exactly turned around, but Bangladesh are fast showing their stripes at this level. Since they were thrown in at the deep end ten years ago, they’ve been at the wrong end of most encounters. 56 losses to three wins is nothing to crow about, sure, and the sad part was that for a long time Bangladesh resembled eighth-graders on a tour of high school–overawed, excited but definitely some distance out of their league.
There were plenty of sterling individual performances–shocking India, South Africa and Pakistan at World Cups, giving Australia and New Zealand the fright of their lives and earning a maiden overseas win, but somehow it never added up. Their record is nothing to boast about, but Shakib-al-Hasan’s budding side has shown as much promise in the last couple of seasons as Bangladesh had in the rest of their history.
Jamie Siddons’ policy of evaluating consistency in his side was originally questioned, but it was a thoroughly sensible procedure. After all, Bangladesh had at various times–in 2004, in 2006, 2007 and briefly in 2008–shown plenty of teeth, but consistency and belief were lacking.Now, finally, things look like turning around. They may have lost the first Test to England, but after an insipid first half they sprang back to turn the tourists’ hair grey, before the canny Graeme Swann wrapped up what should, were the doubters to be believed, have been an easy win. The match featured square-jawed defiance from left-handers Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique, while the pocket dynamo Mushfiqur Rahim - a wicketkeeper who I fondly remember at the 2007 World Cup, brazenly chirping “bowling, boy” to Mohammad Rafique, twice his age - showed why Shakib-al-Hasan and Jamie Siddons have confidence in this side.
The performance was all the more encouraging because, after the shock retirement of 22-year-old Raqibul Hasan, a steady middle-order batsman who usually played the straight man to his more bombastic colleagues, it would have been easy for shoulders to slump and spirits to flag. After a turgid first two days, it would have been even easier, but the Tigers bared their teeth and gave momentary cheer to their loyal supporters.Though they had an unremarkable match, Shakib-al-Hasan and Mahmudullah Riaz are two genuinely committed, talented players who seem ready to improve every aspect of their game. Naeem Islam, who contributed contrasting mid-sized cameos, looks better than a Number Nine. Seamer Shahadat Hossain has–literally–plenty of grunt, but just needs some consistency.
The future of Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s stalwart spearhead, looks doubtful, but at full fitness he should be a valuable asset to the side. After a decade of waiting, Bangladesh seems ready to take on the world. Which brings us to England. They have, after all, won the encounter, and Alastair Cook batted outstandingly even if his captaincy was a bit cautious. Swann has flown into the world’s top branch of bowlers, becoming the first England spinner since auld Jim Laker to take a ten-wicket haul. Ian Bell’s perceived indecisiveness was always exaggerated, and Kevin Pietersen bounced back with a bang. Paul Collingwood is steady, while the towering Steven Finn and the nearly-nearly-man Michael Carberry had a decent, if unspectacular, introduction to Test cricket.
Since Collingwood’s golf gaffe there has been a temptation to look upon the tourists as undercooked snobby twits, but they haven’t been anything of the sort. Personally, I find the current lot generally more likeable than their predecessors. Collingwood, for one, has apologized after having visited Bangladesh’s professional courses, while the likes of Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan seem genuinely interested in surveying the country without looked forced by any stretch of the imagination. Kevin Pietersen has long been accused of arrogance without actually having shown it. The silliest thing said all tour was actually Stuart Broad’s hotel-bed complaint, and that seems more a case of naivety than anything else. Even Michael Vaughan’s unhelpful side-comments haven’t deterred from a rather pleasant England squad. So what if they fancy a spot of Twitter.
