Standing up for the little guy

This entry was inspired by a thread on Planet Cricket.

I'm sick and tired of people criticising Bangladesh for their test match performances. I thoroughly understand that they're not winning games and getting turned over more often than not, but how much do we want cricket to progress? Kicking Bangladesh out of test cricket would be a massive step back, and would probably demoralise the cricket setup in the country.

In the thread on Planet Cricket members suggested setting up a two tier system where the lesser nations face each other (guessing this would include Zimbabwe, Namibia, UAE, etc). No, no, no. You learn from playing the best, and I genuinally think Bangladesh will take something from every test match they play against the likes of Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand.

I look at the team that played against New Zealand in the two test matches, and that team has potential. Tamim and Siddique showed they could bat by posting the highest test match opening partnership by a Bangladeshi pair. This in only their second test match. And who can forget Tamim's explosive knock against India in the world cup? Give this kid time to work on his game and consistency and he could be a great find for Bangladesh.

Captain Ashraful seems to have been around for ages. But at the age of 23, he is the perfect age to lead the next generation of Bangladeshi cricketers. That hundred against Australia at Cardiff announced Ashraful on the world stage, and although he also lacks consistency, he has produced some fantastic knocks. Again, he is a young player, despite having played 40 test matches and 107 one-day internationals. He has time on his side and he will learn.

The most notable area of weakness to me when I last saw Bangladesh was seam bowling. Mortaza was a good prospect, but he was the only seamer capable of reaching a decent pace and taking wickets reguarly. However, Sajidul Islam and Shahadat Hossain are two capable of doing a similar job as Mortaza. They have a combined age of 40, so give them time! Sajidul has just played two test matches, and showed promise.

I guess my main point is, let Bangladesh get on with playing their cricket, and lets focus on their possitives as oppose to concentrating on their weaknesses.