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It is without doubt one of the most successful periods for England on the cricket field as they seem to sweep everything before them. After their win in the Ashes when the odds were heavily against them and then the series against South Africa, where England were never expected to make an impression, they still went away with their heads held high and now it has been the turn of the Bangladeshi’s to feel the heat and they have started to feel it very strongly.
After a fairly close ODI series won by England, Bangladesh would have surely entertained thoughts of upsetting a depleted English side at least in the Test Matches. But how wrong they have been proved by England who put out a polished performance! True Bangladesh is not the strongest side in the circuit but their performance seems to suggest that they are getting better (hopefully) and this was well showcased by their batsmen in both innings. The fighting spirit displayed by the lower order in the first innings and then an equally impressive performance in the second innings too have definitely given the Tigers the impetus they have been waiting for.
England cricketer Graeme Swann delivers a ball during the last day of the first Test match between Bangladesh and England at The Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on March 16, 2010. AFP PHOTO |
One hopes that the performance of the tigers will only take an upward route in the future rather than another decline. From the Bangladeshi’s point of view the player of the first Test match was the young wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim. I thought his batting in both innings were well constructed and mature and will give him the confidence to be a batsman capable of making big runs batting at 7 or 8 rather than 20’s and the 30’s he was associated with in the batting line up. Also Tamim Iqbal, Mahamudullah and Junaid Siddique had their moments with the bat whilst the weak link is still the lack of a quality bowler - be it spin or pace. Mashrafe Mortaza’s absence too hasn’t helped the Tigers as he looked the one bowler who could have reached world class status. But it has been injuries that have plagued him and he appears to be a forgotten factor in Bangladesh cricket - at least for the moment.
But the real surprise to me in the match, at least statistically speaking, was Graham Swan becoming the first off spinner since the great Jim Laker in 1956 to get 10 wickets for England in a Test match. Laker’s feat was achieved in that famous series of 1956 when he had the distinction of grabbing 19 wickets on a sticky Oval pitch after his spin partner Lock had got the first wicket for England in the Test match. The press had screamed that the “Aussies were Lakered” after that performance and to think that no bowler whose primary trade was off spin had got 10 wickets up to 2010 is as amazing as Swan’s ride to stardom!
However one shouldn’t forget that Tony Greig who was a dual purpose bowler during his prime bowled medium pace and switched on to off spin later with the older ball and actually did claim 13 wickets against the West Indies in Trinidad in 1973 when England barely squared a one sided series by the virtue of their win in the fourth Test by 26 runs. The great Geoff Boycott who later on had a self imposed exile from Test cricket from 1974 to 1977 as a protest against the then England captain Mike Dennis has been quoted as saying that, it was himself and Tony Greig by virtue of their batting and bowling in the game, (Boycott made a hundred and a ninety nine and Greig thirteen wickets) had prolonged the captaincy period of Dennis.
But back to Swan and the record, a look back at the off spinners who played for England since 1956, the list is full of quality performers. Some of the names that were in the list of off spinners then were Titmus, Mortimore, Allen, Illingworth, Embury, Pocock. Surely a set of world class bowlers who troubled the best! And none of them being able to get ten wickets in a match should be a very strange happening!
As for Swan I am sure he has surprised not just his ardent followers but himself too! When he first appeared on the scene as a rival to the highly talented Monty Panesar, I really didn’t think he was taken seriously. But to his credit has carried on outshinning Panesar and making the spin bowlers berth his very own in the process and that too in a reasonably short time. Another interesting factor associated with Swan is that he doesn’t appear to bowl the doosra or may be I have not seen him do that. And to assume that in a day and age where the doosra is an important delivery in the armoury of an off spinner, Swan has kept it very simple.
Back to the Test match at Chittagong, England simply annihilated the Bangladeshi’s and despite all the hard work of the late orders it was a no win situation for them which is unfortunately becoming one of their traits in games against the more established nations. This trend will have to be arrested by the authorities in Bangladesh and unless it is done fast, cricket in that country will have a detrimental effect as finances will be a commodity hard to find. It is a commonly known fact that cricket today is dependent on TV rights and money made off it and losing teams can never be a viewer’s delight and that’s another area that Bangladesh will have to guard against in a very unforgiving and a tough world of cricket dominated by commercialization and nothing else.
Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator. |
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