All posts tagged 'bangladesh'

Tamim Iqbal – The man is hatstand, box of frogs, loopsville  - that in itself is enough to make one love him . But the carnage that ensues when he’s pumped up is truly something else.   He bats with a mix of freedom and lunacy  that excites even the bacon and egg brigade.  Tamim ignores the ineptitude (or inexperience if you are nicer than me) of his team mates and just does what Tamim does.  The Heath Streak of the 21^st Century.

So the first test of the summer is over. England have a resounding win, the Bangladesh batting once more showed signs of improvement, and there was even a decent fifth day crowd. So why am I feeling irritable?

Probably because no one knows what to think or feel about it. Bangladesh are so inevitably going to lose whenever they play England at the moment (provided the weather doesn't intervene) that every performance by an England player seems to be judged within that suffocating context. Trott's double century isn't actually deemed worthwhile because there isn't a Bangladesh bowler (with the possible exception of Shakib) that would take 35 wickets in a season of Division 2 County Championship cricket. Finn's wickets are similarly suspicious. Rather than applauding Morgan's relatively assured 40 odd in the 1st innings, we find ourselves despondent that he didn't make a triple hundred. As for Bresnan and Anderson, we are encouraged to believe that if they can't take 4-35 against this mob, what chance do they have in Australia?

Being possibly the only person in the world to have witnessed every ball of the three tests played this year between England and Bangladesh (apart from Jamie Siddons whose malevolent glare has never wavered) I feel uniquely qualified to offer some perspective. In all three matches the pitches have been diabolical for test cricket. Bowlers on both sides have got no change from the surfaces. In Bangladesh this makes sense, but Lord's is now an abomination. Until the weather turned nasty on Saturday, there was no swing either. The Bangladesh batting has improved vastly but notably the two most successful England batsmen had been playing four day cricket for over a month. Trott and Strauss were thus in tune for test match conditions. Bangladesh don't play enough test cricket and so eventually succumbed to lack of concentration (see Shakib's disappointing dismissal yesterday and indeed after lunch in the 2nd test at Dhaka).

Pitches such as the ones we have seen will even out the contest, giving the Bangladesh batsmen a more than decent chance of surviving for long periods. This may be good for prolonging the contest but leaves the pundit struggling with imponderables. In this latest match there were three performances of undoubted class: Finn with the ball (when he wasn't falling over or having moody first spells), and Tamim and Trott with the bat. In their contrasting ways they all rose above their peers. Finn by bowling consistently around off stump and allowing his height to take care of the rest, Trott by harnessing his many OCDs to form a bubble of concentration that not even KP's suicidal running could permeate, and Tamim by being the most insane and effective batsman in the world today with the possible exception of Sehwag. His innings contained shots of wonder mingled with the type of eye popping madness seldom seen in an under 11s 10 over a side match on a recreation ground.

Old Trafford should be different. Traditionally it helps taller bowlers and spinners which may bring Shakib into play (there was nothing in the Lord's pitch for Swann, Shakib or Mahmadullah). It's usually a terrific test match wicket. But there may be a temptation to deaden the pitch so the match goes five days (and by the way, for anyone doubting Bangladesh's right to test status let it be remembered that they have taken England to the last day in every match this year), but this would be a mistake. The current source of ennui that pervades these encounters can be traced entirely to Bangladesh's bowlers being neutered by the surfaces. Shakib goes straight onto the defensive and England are invited to make as many runs as they please as long as they don't go over 4.12 runs an over. And please God let Bangladesh bat first. That way we don't endure a first day which may as well have been conducted by a sealed bid auction (360-5? Yeah we'll take that).

I have just compiled the schedule for international cricket in England this summer, ready to send out to the Sofa gang for availability checking.

Unbelievably, if you include the Australia v Pakistan matches, there are 57 days of cricket between now and the end of the season (equally unbelievably, the end isn't until 22 September). That's pretty much every other day.

As glorious a prospect as this is, it also poses a really tricky problem for me. How on earth am I going to get enough time off work to do even half my share of Sofa duty? I have already spunked way too much of my holiday allowance on cricket, and it would be quite nice to have an actual holiday at some point.

What I need is for the Sofa to go massive very quickly, so that I can quit my job and do it full time. This post is therefore a rallying cry for those who love the Sofa and want the it to continue. Tell everyone you know about us, write about us, tweet about us, spread the word any way you know how, and we might just make it to the Ashes next winter.

Help us get to 100,000 listeners. It'll be worth your while in the end.