OUR game against Warwickshire finished a little earlier than I would have liked last week, and with a bad result for Hampshire. Never mind. At least it meant I could watch some of the Test match and what I saw just confirmed my opinion of Bangladesh. To be brutally honest, they are not up to standard and should not be playing Test cricket.
The truth can be harsh, but I want to be constructive and I want to help. I am all for spreading the word of cricket to as many countries as we can because it is the greatest sport in the world. I would love to see Bangladesh — and Zimbabwe for that matter — playing competitive international cricket. But “competitive” is the key word.
At the moment, these teams are simply not good enough. It has been evident for some time and was reiterated by the scores at Lord’s. Nobody expected anything else. My concern is that the brand of Test cricket is being devalued and that is bad for the sport. People are not mugs and they will quickly lose interest in one-sided contests.
I don’t like to hear former players saying that the game was better in their day, but on this one they have a point. Easy runs and wickets are distorting the records and that is not the fault of these players. The worst aspect is that I cannot see any light on the horizon for Bangladesh. I have not seen anything to suggest that they might be even a moderate team in the years ahead.
Looking at international cricket overall, it is clear that taking away Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would free up time in the schedule. I think most people — certainly most players — believe that it is too cramped as things stand. Fewer countries means less cricket means more rest means fewer injuries means a better standard when we do play.
At the moment I feel sorry for the Bangladesh players because they are getting mauled time and time again. It is all very well to say that they are gaining experience, but how do you improve when you are being embarrassed and humiliated in public week after week? I cannot think of any other area of life where people are expected to learn like that.
The ICC wants them in the fold because it has invested heavily and sees potential. We all understand that. If Bangladesh become successful, I am sure it would have a huge, positive effect on the country and inspire millions of youngsters. But there are ways to help without exposing them to a level above their capabilities.
It should not be a case of taking away international status and leaving them to their own devices. They could play first-class cricket against state teams in other countries — India, as their neighbours, would be a good place to start. Maybe they could host A tours so that spectators could still see decent cricket and get behind them.
I am sure that individual players from other countries would be happy to go over to offer specialist coaching to the best young players. I don’t mind helping their spin bowlers for a week or so here and there. The aim would be that if they re- enter the Test fold — and the door should never be bolted — they would be able to cope.
The ICC must ensure that being up to Test standard is a prerequisite of admission. I also believe that “new” countries should be monitored every 12 months to see if they are making progress. It would be interesting to see how Bangladesh might get on at the moment against, say, Kenya. I would be surprised if they stood out at ICC Trophy level.
I have met the players and they are lovely people. I did some commentating during their Test matches against Australia in Darwin and Cairns a couple of years ago. They are eager to learn and I think that would be best achieved at their own pace, away from the spotlight, where they could go into games knowing that they had a chance of success.
There is only so much that Dav Whatmore can do for them. He is an excellent coach and a genuine bloke. You just have to remember what he did for Sri Lanka to recognise his credentials. He has taken on a massive job and he must be frustrated. I wish Bangladesh the very best, but the way things are going, I fear for them.
FULL FINAL SCOREBOARD FROM LORD’S
England won toss
BANGLADESH: First Innings
Javed Omar Belim c Trescothick b S P Jones 22
(81min, 60 balls, 3 fours)
Nafis Iqbal c Trescothick b Harmison 8
(40min, 31 balls)
*Habibul Bashar c G O Jones b Hoggard 3
(4min, 3 balls)
Aftab Ahmed c Strauss b Flintoff 20
(24min, 14 balls, 5 fours)
Mohammad Ashraful lbw b Flintoff 6
(14min, 9 balls, 1 four)
Mushfiqur Rahim b Hoggard 19
(85min, 56 balls, 3 fours)
†Khaled Mashud lbw b Hoggard 6
(59 mins, 57 balls)
Mohammad Rafique run out(Vaughan/Hoggard) 1
(8min, 3 balls)
Mashrafe Mortaza b Harmison 0
(4min, 3 balls)
Anwar Hossain not out 5
(13min, 6 balls)
Shahadat Hossain c G O Jones b Hoggard 4
(9min, 10 balls, 1 four)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, nb 12) 14
Total (38.2 ov, 177min) 108
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31 (9.2; Javed 14); 2-34 (10.1; Javed 14); 3-65 (15.2; Javed 22); 4-65 (16.5; Ashraful 0); 5-71 (17.5; Rahim 0); 6-89 (33.0; Rahim 11); 7-94 (34.3; Rahim 15); 8-98 (35.3; Rahim 19); 9-98 (36.1; Anwar 0).
BOWLING: Hoggard 13.2-5-42-4 (nb 8; 6 fours; 7-2-34-1, 6.2-3-8-3); Harmison 14-3-38-2 (nb 4; 4 fours; 6-0-23-1, 2-1-1-0/lunch/6-2-14-1); Flintoff 5-0-22-2 (3 fours; one spell); S P Jones 6-4-4-1 (one spell).
ENGLAND: First Innings
M E Trescothick c Mashud b Rafique 194
(367min, 259 balls, 23 fours)
A J Strauss lbw b Mortaza 69
(143min, 93 balls, 10 fours)
*M P Vaughan c Mashud b Mortaza 120
(203min, 174 balls, 15 fours)
I R Bell not out 65
(114min, 94 balls, 7 fours)
G P Thorpe not out 42
(95min, 72 balls, 2 fours)
Extras (b 4, lb 11, w 3, nb 20) 38
Total (3 wkts dec, 112 ov, 463min) 528
A Flintoff, †G O Jones, G J Batty, M J Hoggard, S P Jones and S J Harmison did not bat.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-148 (29.5; Trescothick 62); 2-403 (81.5; Trescothick 183); 3-415 (86.1; Bell 1).
BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 29-6-107-2 (17 fours; 6-1-18-0, 9-4-22-1, 6-0-35-0, 8-1-32-1); Shahadat Hossain 12-0-101-0 (nb 10, w 1; 15 fours; 4-0-41-0, 5-0-28-0, 3-0-32-0); Anwar Hossain 22-0-110-0 (nb 9, w 1; 9 fours; 1-0-7-0/tea/6-0-15-0, 2-0-16-0, 6-0-40-0, 7-0-32-0); Mohammed Rafique 41-3-150-1 (nb 1; 12 fours; 12-1-34-0/stumps/14-1-65-0, 12-0-41-1/ tea/3-1-10-0); Aftab Ahmed 8-1-45-0 (w 1; 4 fours; 1-1-0-0, 1-0-4-0/lunch/ 3-0-25-0, 3-0-16-0).
BANGLADESH: Second Innings
Javed Omar Belim c Thorpe b S P Jones 25
(59min, 44 balls, 3 fours)
Nafis Iqbal c Flintoff b Hoggard 3
(17min, 11 balls)
*Habibul Bashar c Hoggard b S P Jones 16
(31min, 17 balls, 2 fours)
Aftab Ahmed lbw b Hoggard 32
(60min, 33 balls, 6 fours)
Mohammad Ashraful c Harmison b Flintoff 2
(7min, 7 balls)
Mushfiqur Rahim c G O Jones b Flintoff 3
(9min, 9 balls)
†Khaled Mashud c Thorpe b Flintoff 44
(117min, 84 balls, 5 fours)
Mohammad Rafique c G O Jones b Harmison 0
(2min, 1 ball)
Mashrafe Mortaza b Harmison 0
(2min, 1 ball)
Anwar Hossain c Trescothick b S P Jones 13
(71min, 43 balls, 1 four)
Shahadat Hossain not out 2
(6min, 3 balls)
Extras (b 1, lb 4, nb 14) 19
Total (39.5 ov, 195min) 159
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (4.1; Javed 12); 2-47 (10.1; Javed 23); 3-57 (12.1; Aftab 8); 4-60 (13.3; Aftab 8); 5-65 (15.2; Aftab 8); 6-96 (23.0; Mashud 6); 7-97 (23.2; Mashud 7); 8-97 (23.3; Mashud 7); 9-155 (38.3; Mashud 42).
BOWLING: Hoggard 9-1-42-2 (nb 7; 5 fours; 5-1-20-1, 4-0-22-1); Harmison 10-0-39-2 (nb 5; 4 fours; 3-0-14-0, 2-0-6-0/stumps/5-0-19-2); Flintoff 9.5-0-44-3 (nb 2; 5 fours; 6-0-35-2, 3.5-0-9-1); S P Jones 11-3-29-3 (3 fours; 6-2-12-2, 5-1-17-1).
SCORING NOTES: Third day: All out at 11.58am. England won by an innings and 261 runs, the tenth largest innings margin of victory in all Tests and England’s third-largest.
Match award: M E Trescothick.
Umpires: D J Harper (Australia, 50th Test) and K Hariharan (India, 1st).
Replay umpire: J W Lloyds (England).
Fourth umpire: T E Jesty (England).
Match referee: A G Hurst (Australia, 5th)
TEST TO COME: Second (Riverside): June 3-7.
Compiled by Bill Frindall
