The Bangla bashing

Following the progress of Test cricket's newest member, it has become patently obvious in recent matches Bangladesh are not up to Test standard.

Sri Lanka, one of Test cricket's better outfits, professionally did in their Asian Test Championship match exactly what many other teams will in the forthcoming months - totally annihilate the substandard newcomer.

We can talk of Australia playing on different level to England, or one Test team not being at the same standard as another, but overall it is still a competition between approximate equals, with the difference made in areas that on any given day could be reversed.

Bangladesh vs Any Test Nation, however, is a genuine mismatch. Results like the Asian Test Championship match against Sri Lanka are damaging to Test cricket's credibility and, more significantly, are not beneficial to the advancement of Bangladeshi cricket.

Now, it is very true that for any team or sportsperson to improve, it is important to play opponents better than you. Most times you learn more from defeat than you do from victory, but only up to a point. If a team is losing convincingly but still competing in the process, then it is still a worthwhile exercise. But when that is not happening, and one team is being humiliatingly routed, there is nothing to be gained by anyone.

At any sport at which you're proficient at a recreational level, you could play a talented amateur, get thrashed, and still benefit from the experience. But unless you're very good, playing someone of international standard would be utterly pointless. The difference in standard is so vast that neither party gains anything, and it becomes demoralising rather than rewarding.

That is what is happening to Bangladesh right now. They are so far out of their depth that it is painful to see them up against international teams. Imagine jumping from domestic one-day cricket to Test competition. The divide is too great to be bridged and it must be harrowing. There needs to be some middle ground - first-class cricket - to be at least partially prepared for what they are facing in the big time. One-day internationals are a poor substitute for first-class experience and the players are missing a vital intermediary step to prepare them for Test cricket.

Zimbabwe, despite the lack of resources, are ultimately gaining from their lengthy struggles to compete. Perhaps Bangladesh will adjust quickly enough to make Test participation meaningful. The inaugural match with India was encouraging. Against Asian powerhouses Pakistan and Sri Lanka, however, their inadequacy has been exposed. The signs are distinctly inauspicious.

Debutante Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria took 12 wickets against them. The bowling attack has been flayed. And this on pitches that one assumes would at least be similar to the ones the players are familiar with at home. It is ominous to think what might happen to them in foreign conditions like South Africa, whose team is presently mauling experienced battlers Zimbabwe, or Australia. Even away in Zimbabwe, the margins of victory to the former African minnows - an innings and 32 runs and 8 wickets - were comprehensive.

World records are set to be broken and their worthiness will be questionable. Brian Lara's record 375 could be surpassed in two days of solid strokeplay. Marvan Atapattu could have done it and if Sri Lanka weren't playing such positive Test cricket these days, he might have.

Sri Lanka put its love of records aside and opted to retire Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene, declaring at 555/5 in just 103.3 overs. Sri Lanka's Daily News accused its team of ridiculing the game by retiring two batsmen, but it was the decision-makers who granted Bangladesh premature Test status who ridiculed the game, not Sri Lanka.

It is commonplace for batsmen to retire after having spent sufficient time in the middle during first-class practice fixtures. In the context of the Asian Test Championship, for Sri Lanka that's exactly what their match against Bangladesh was. Michael Vandort was making his Test debut and would not have received an opportunity to bat under Test conditions, however far removed from genuine competition, if Atapattu had not retired. Others might have thrown their wickets away with casual strokeplay in order to get team-mates in, but why should a batsman be forced to do that?

Sri Lanka were well within their rights to treat the match as they pleased. The only surprise was that Atapattu, with a remarkable propensity for big scores, was selfless enough to retire at 201 when he could have added to his personal statistics and possibly pursued Lara's world record.

Even through Sri Lanka deserve credit for sportingly pursuing victory as quickly and efficiently as possible, Bangladesh's Test status will allow opponents to achieve inflated career records by padding their stats against the minnows, especially since the ICC schedule dictates they will play all teams in regular two-match series. Wasim Akram must be kicking himself for missing out on any wickets as he seeks to surpass Kapil Dev while Muttiah Muralitharan, already with a sizeable piece of the action, and Shane Warne must be salivating at the prospect of expediting their progress to 500 wickets.

The question to consider is whether Bangladesh do actually have a talented player base which is presently overwhelmed but will improve, or whether they are not equipped for first-class cricket. Having only played a few Tests it's difficult to know for certain and it would be unfair to judge too harshly so early in their Test existence. Too many more of these results, though, and Bangladesh's presence in the Test arena will become a farce.

Having campaigned so earnestly for Test status, it is a pity more was not done to assist the development of the players expected to be the foundation of the side. The Bangladesh establishment should either have sought this, or the cricket world that decided to embrace them with Test status should have come forward to assist.

Why couldn't Bangladesh have first participated in a first-class competition for a couple of years, possibly in Pakistan, to adjust to a higher standard of play? Perhaps even better, a number of players expected to play Test cricket could have been sent, funded by the ICC's development money, to several Test nations to play at club or first-class level in those countries to gain a feel both for the standard and the different playing conditions around the world.

Neither of those preparations occurred, and instead Bangladesh were awarded hasty entry to the unforgiving elite level. At present, it appears they got a lot more than they bargained for, and it is not doing world or Bangladeshi cricket any good.

Having said that, it's not all bleak. Mohammad Ashraful's record debut century against the formidable Muralitharan suggests at least one outstanding young talent and the average age of the Bangladeshi team is only 24, hinting that there is scope for improvement. Judging by the numbers there appears to be more batting talent than quality bowling, which is understandable for an emerging nation unused to the rigours of the first-class game.

Let us hope, for the sake of Bangladeshi cricket, that the second innings batting performance against Sri Lanka, rather than the two Asian Test Championship results, is the more accurate indication of the future.

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