Bangladesh V England

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England squad arrives in Dhaka for cricket series

DHAKA: England’s cricket team, led by Michael Vaughan, arrived in rain-drenched Bangladesh on Wednesday for a month-long tour to include two Test matches and three one-dayers.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials greeted the English squad at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport on its arrival aboard an Emirates flight.

England, without the injured duo of Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, will face a Bangladesh team buoyed by an improved display during their recent tour to Pakistan. The Test minnows put up a tough fight against Pakistan and came within one wicket of registering their first-ever Test victory in the third Test in Multan.

Vaughan told reporters on arrival he was looking forward to a good series and would not underestimate the home side. “In the last six Tests, Bangladesh have played positive cricket against top-class teams like Australia and Pakistan,” the England captain said. “We will not take them lightly.”

Bangladesh, granted Test status in 2000, have lost 23 of their 24 Tests, the only draw coming in a rain-hit match with Zimbabwe. The South Asians have also not won a limited-over international in 44 matches.

England go into the series, which starts with the first Test in Dhaka on October 21, also missing veteran wicketkeeper Alec Stewart who has retired. Vaughan’s men will visit Sri Lanka after the Bangladesh tour ends on November 12.

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England Test Squad

*Michael Vaughan
James Anderson - withdrawn 25th September
Gareth Batty
Mark Butcher
Rikki Clarke
Paul Collingwood
Andrew Flintoff - withdrawn 6th October
Ashley Giles
Stephen Harmison
Nasser Hussain
Matthew Hoggard
Richard Johnson - added 29th September
+Geraint Jones
+Chris Read
Martin Saggers - added 6th October
Marcus Trescothick
Graham Thorpe
England One-Day Squad

Michael Vaughan
James Anderson
Gareth Batty
Ian Blackwell
Rikki Clarke
Paul Collingwood
Andrew Flintoff
Ashley Giles
Richard Johnson
James Kirtley
Anthony McGrath
Chris Read
Vikram Solanki
Andrew Strauss
Marcus Trescothick

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When it comes to team selection of Pomps - it never fails to amaze me - Martin Saggers is new to International Cricket but not to the domestic game - he’s been playing in the County game for ages - currently playing for Kent - in my opinion - the wrong choice but hey that’s what the England Selection pnale made its name on - Screw ups! Or is that a bit harsh?

Kabir Ali couldn’t make it to the squad. - how on earth Rikkie Clark, bits and piece player is back? Nah - i wasn’t bit harsh - usual trash from the selectors.

i think England has a good chance of whitewash - they won’t get much better chance than this.

:smokin2:

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England have some pretty decent fast bowlers up and coming like Harmison, Kirtley, Silverwood, Sidebottom, K Ali, but they insist on picking medium pacers like Johnson and Rikki Clarke.
And now they are without Flintoff and Anderson, their bowlers will be punished by the Bangali batsmen.

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Rikkie Clark ain’t selected as a bowler lol - though he’s a right arm medium fast but his inclusion in the team is as a specialist batsman which i think is absurd because we already have got long batting up - Marcus Trescothic, Nassir Hussian, Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood , Graham Thrope, Mark Butcher and Chris Read(he bats good as well)

The England selectors should have chose Kabir Ali(bowler) over Rikkie Clarke(batsman)

Bowlers Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and James Kirtley (for ODI) are there - James and Flintoff will be back for ODI series too - Ashely Giles is there as a spinner - tho bowling dept. ain’t look good but it ain’t worst either.

:smokin2:

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Giles and Batty shine as England are denied

England completed a highly satisfying warm-up match – one that had seemed an unlikely starter after the torrential rains that greeted their arrival – as Gareth Batty and Ashley Giles picked up six wickets between them in their first outing of the tour. They couldn’t quite polish off an obdurate tail, as the BCB President’s XI reached the close on 143 for 9, but for England the result mattered less than the practice.

For the young Bangladeshi side, however – eight of whom are members of the U19 squad that will play in the World Cup here next March – survival was an impressive accomplishment, albeit aided by the weather on the first day. It had not seemed likely when seven wickets fell in rapid succession after tea, but Nadif Chowdhury and Gazi Alamgir gritted their teeth to carry the match into the final over of the day. A late twist seemed on the cards when Steve Harmison yorked Chowdhury for 26 with two balls remaining, but Enamul Haque held fast to deny England victory.

Such resistance was unexpected after the Bangladeshi efforts in the first innings. They had teetered to 46 for 6 overnight, and England required just six overs to wrap up proceedings for a paltry 57. Matthew Hoggard once again displayed the sort of form that he had consistently shown in Pakistan and Sri Lanka three winters ago. He added three more wickets to his overnight haul, to finish with 6 for 13 from 9.3 overs.

In theory, the President’s XI had avoided the follow-on by four runs, but there would never have been any intention of enforcing it, especially after England had lost four wickets for no runs on the second afternoon. Instead it was left to two of those victims, Graham Thorpe and Rikki Clarke, to get some much-needed time in the middle. Thorpe was in supreme touch for his 47, but Clarke – whose place remains under threat from Paul Collingwood – was less able to settle. He found the spinners particularly tricky to handle, and when he was finally bowled by Enamul for 19, England declared on 69 for 1, and lunch was taken.

Martin Saggers made England’s first breakthrough in the tenth over of the resumption, when Chris Read pulled off a fine one-handed catch in front of first slip to remove Nadif Iqbal for 20 (36 for 1). But Aftab Ahmed, very much a candidate for next week’s first Test, lead the resistance with a sparkling 45 that included four fours and a mighty pulled six off Clarke. But Clarke had his revenge in his very next over, when Aftab was trapped lbw, and the innings frittered away. Hannan Sarkar’s patient 16 soon came to an end as Giles won his first lbw appeal of the day, and Batty entered the attack from the opposite end to provide the final touch to England’s preparations.

The spinners wheeled away, with great accuracy but no spectacular turn, and seven wickets tumbled for 37 as the inexperience of the Bangladeshis threatened to be their undoing. But Chowdhury and Alamgir rallied the tail to ensure that first blood in this tour has yet to be drawn.

Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo. He will be accompanying England throughout their travels in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/357723_BDESHENG2003-04_14OCT2003.html

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Matthew Hoggard traps Mushfiqur Rahman leg-before - Hoggard finished with 6 for 13 as England's tour-opener ended in a draw © Getty Images

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Easy start for England - surely that performance has now got Matthew Hoggard his place in the side? As usual the England selectors have screwed up - they will have to pray that they win this series(Test and ODIs) or surely they will have to resign if they get it wrong again!

:smokin2:

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Flintoff again:smack:

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:konfused:

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Bangladesh A v England XI, Dhaka, 1st Day

Iqbal century holds up England’s progress

A dashing hundred from Nafis Iqbal held up England’s progress against Bangladesh A, who ended the first day all out for 242. Steve Harmison struck twice early on, but Iqbal and Rajin Saleh then added 103 for the third wicket. England’s bowlers fought back in the afternoon session, sharing the wickets between them, but were then frustrated by an eighth-wicket stand of forty by Arafat Sunny and Mosaddek Hossain before Richard Johnson wrapped things up.

England’s bowlers struck back in the heat in Dhaka to reduce Bangladesh A to 183 for 7 at tea and take a firm grip on the match, despite a dashing century from Nafis Iqbal.

Iqbal, who is due to go on an under-19 tour of Pakistan while the Tests take place, was eventually caught by Graham Thorpe in the deep off Gareth Batty for 118, smashing 14 fours and one six. He also put on 103 with Rajin Saleh, who made a patient 28 before edging Richard Johnson behind to Chris Read. The pair were well set at lunch on 89 for 2, but once Saleh was out, Bangladesh A, consisting of six players with Test or one-day international experience, then lost five wickets for 63 runs.

Nazimuddin was involved in a mix-up with Iqbal and run out by Rikki Clarke for 11, while Iqbal’s much-prized dismissal triggered off three wickets for only four runs. Fahim Muntasir was caught by Michael Vaughan off Ashley Giles and Gazi Sagir Hossain was bowled by Matthew Hoggard.

Earlier, a double strike from Steve Harmison put Bangladesh A immediately on the back foot. He removed Javed Omar and Aftab Ahmed in quick succession. Omar was caught behind by Read for a duck and Ahmed soon edged a fullish ball to Clarke at second slip for four. But England’s hopes of skittling the batsmen for a low score, like they did against the President’s side, were dashed by Iqbal and Saleh’s counter-attacking hundred partnership, but they are still nevertheless on top.

In the sweltering conditions, Vaughan used six bowlers, including Johnson, playing his first game of the tour. Johnson and Paul Collingwood replaced Mark Butcher and Martin Saggers from the last game. Butcher was ruled out due to a throat infection while Saggers was rested.

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/359463_BDESHENG2003-04_16OCT2003.html

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Trescothick leads the recovery before Read and Batty shine

It was a tale of two tails at the BKSP sports academy. One version was low-lying, slithering and poisonous, and met a very sticky end at the hands of two spectators and a pair of deck-chairs. But the other – that belonging to England’s batting order – had a rather more successful day, as Gareth Batty and Chris Read both recorded their maiden half-centuries in representative cricket. Their efforts ensured that England recovered from another top-order wobble to take a handy 91-run lead on the second day against Bangladesh A.

On the first day of last week’s match at the National Stadium, England had lost four wickets for no runs in a frantic post-lunch spell. Today’s effort began with a similar attack of the vapours, as Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood were both dismissed in the third over by Alamgir Kabir. Vaughan, who has now passed fifty just once in 19 innings as captain, was trapped lbw by one that kept low, and three balls later, Collingwood was comprehensively yorked for a duck.

At 3 for 2, an excitable crowd already had plenty to cheer about, and the sight of a Marcus Trescothick-led counterattack did not dull their spirits. All of a sudden though, all hell broke loose behind the bowler’s arm, as some 400 spectators stampeded round the edge of the grass banks. The cause of their alarm was the appearance of a four-foot cobra, which had apparently fallen out of a tree and was swiftly bludgeoned to death for its carelessness.

The commotion soon died down (though not before Duncan Fletcher had wandered round for a glance), but for Nasser Hussain it had all been too distracting. He was caught behind as Talha Jubair extracted some useful lift, and when Graham Thorpe was adjudged lbw as he aimed to leg, England were 85 for 4 and struggling.

Trescothick, however, was in magnificent form. He greeted the former Test offspinner Fahim Muntasir with three fours in a row, and meted out similar treatment to the leggie Mosadek Hossain, whose first-ball half-tracker was belted over square leg for six. For the second time in two innings, however, Trescothick fell within sight of his hundred – lbw for 96 – as Alamgir returned to collect his third wicket of the innings.

At 176 for 5, England still trailed by 66 runs. But Rikki (Tikki Tavi?) Clarke was in fine fettle, standing tall to drive the spinners and clip the seamers off his toes. His 43 paved the way for Read and Batty to carry England into a commanding lead, as the Bangladeshi bowlers began to struggle in the intense heat of the afternoon. Read, whose footwork was superb, was the dominant figure in the partnership, and had cracked his way to 82 from just 117 balls when he drilled a low catch to Rajin Saleh at cover. He was furious with himself as he left the pitch, but with 43 runs already in the bank from last week, he is more than ready to take over from Alec Stewart in the Test middle-order next week.

Batty followed just two runs later when he holed out to long-on, but his 107-ball 50 is a useful reminder of his dual abilities, as the selectors debate whether to go with three seamers or two spinners at the National Stadium next week. England were bowled out for 333, with their last four wickets falling for 16, as Bangladesh A reached 6 for 0 at the close.

Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo. He will be accompanying England throughout their travels in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/360837_BDESHENG2003-04_17OCT2003.html

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Marcus Trescothick: fell four short of a century

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~test series~ - england V bangladesh

1st Test: Bangladesh v England @ Dhaka, 21-25 Oct 2003

bangladesh won toss and decided to bat 1st.

9.2 Harmison to Javed Omar, OUT: first strike! short delivery, pitched
outside the off stump and angling in sharply, Omar goes back and
defends awkwardly and ends up popping up a simple catch taken by Clarke at gully, Harmison’s aggressive approach gets rewarded.

@ stumps day 1 Bangladesh 24/2 (15.0 ov) almost all of the day was lost due to heavy rain so only 15 overs were made possible.

i would post the scorecard but as i can remember quite recently a thread was opened stating scoreboards can’t be posted as the settings of the page/thread, so here is the hyperlink >>>

1st test match eng V bang scorecard @ stumps on day 1

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Bangladesh v England, 1st Test, Dhaka, 1st day

Harmison strikes twice in rain-affected day

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Frustration at Dhaka
© Getty Images

It promised so much, but the opening day of England’s inaugural Test against Bangladesh at Dhaka ended up as a damp squib, with only 15 overs and approximately an hour’s play possible. It all started to go according to plan, but a thunderous downpour twenty 20 minutes into the match effectively put paid to a day in which Bangladesh eventually crawled to 24 for 2 with Steve Harmison taking both wickets to fall.

After the heavens opened, the ground was littered with puddles within minutes and the umpires had four inspections during the afternoon. They eventually decreed that play could resume at 4.15pm (1115 GMT) and, after some persuasion, England returned to the soggy outfield in the evening floodlit sunshine for what should have been 19 overs, although in the event only 11 more were possible before the light closed in.

And Harmison began to make up for lost time with the wicket of Javed Omar for 3. Harmison and Matthew Hoggard kept things tight with probing lines outside off stump with a hint of awayswing, but it was the old-fashioned short ball which did for Omar. Harmison banged one in and Omar could only fend it straight to Rikki Clarke in the gully (12 for 1).

Harmison then had a good lbw shout against the new batsman Habibul Bashar turned down by Asoka de Silva, but Bashar was soon on his way when he edged Harmison to Marcus Trescothick at first slip. Harmison again got some bounce and movement, and Bashar played an ugly angled drive which flew to Trescothick at head height (24 for 2).

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Tip-toeing through the mud at Dhaka
© Getty Images

Hannan Sarkar, meanwhile, impressed in the short time he was at the crease, scoring the first four of the innings with an edge through the slips off Hoggard, much to the delight of the sparse crowd. He would have had two more boundaries if the outfield hadn’t been so slow when he clipped Harmison through the on side and drove Hoggard through the covers, both shots bringing three runs. But even though the floodlights were on, Sarkar and Rajin Saleh readily accepted the offer of bad light at 5.05pm, to bring a forgettable first day of the series to an end.

England were boosted by Mark Butcher passing a late fitness test following his throat infection, and as expected they included two uncapped players, Rikki Clarke and Gareth Batty. They fielded only two out-and-out seamers - Hoggard and Harmison - with Clarke the third seamer, and Batty and Ashley Giles to provide the spin. Bangladesh, on the other hand, gave a debut to Enamul Haque Jnr, but the batting looks a bit light with Khaled Masud pencilled in at No. 6.

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/365174_BDESHENG2003-04_21OCT2003.html

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the warm-up matches result ain’t impressive at all - This is very bad from England - apart from Marcus Trescothick nobody is performing - I have to say if they keep this up England could well find themselves looking at avoiding defeat in this series - and that would be absolutely disasterous.

At the moment - Bangladesh side has collasped for just 75/5 - rain screwed up day 1 - and by looking at the present condition - it’s either draw by rain or win for England.

:smokin2:

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Bangladesh 90/5 (45.0 ov)

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Bangladesh v England, 1st Test, Dhaka, 2nd day

Trescothick puts England in charge

England finished the day on 111 without loss, 92 behind Bangladesh after bowling them out for 203. Marcus Trescothick played magnificently, hitting 13 fours and a six in his unbeaten 77. Michael Vaughan played a subdued innings at the other end, but was still undefeated at the close.
Full report to follow.

A maiden Test fifty from Khaled Mashud, along with a rescuing 60-run partnership between Mashud and Mushfiqur Rahman, tarnished England's good early-work in the second day of the first Test at Dhaka. At tea, Bangladesh had fought to 203, all the more impressive after they had earlier sunk to 72 for 5, before Steve Harmison finished things off with his first five-wicket haul.

Rahman and Mashud carried on where they left off after lunch, content to play cautiously and grind down the bowlers, and they slowly but surely helped Bangladesh creep out of trouble and frustrate England. However, Mashud did get away with a couple of scares. He edged Gareth Batty just wide of Rikki Clarke at first slip, and was later dropped by Michael Vaughan as well.

As the conditions became gloomier and the floodlights came on, Matthew Hoggard came more and more to life, bowling with swing and changing his pace well. And he should have had his second wicket when Mashud, on 23, mistimed a straight-drive to Vaughan's right at mid-off. Perhaps Vaughan had other things on his mind, like how to break this gritty partnership, as he half-heartedly dived and flung out his right hand, but didn't hold on to the chance.

Rahman then brought up the fifty partnership with a crashing cover-drive off Batty, but the whole-hearted Hoggard finally broke the partnership soon after the drinks break. Bowling wide of the crease, he sent down an inswinging yorker which trapped Rahman in front of middle stump (132 for 6), a huge relief for England, who were starting to feel the heat.

Hoggard then got more reward for his efforts when he picked up Khaled Mahmud with a fuller inswinger. Mahmud played all around the ball which would have hit middle (148 for 7). Mohammad Rafique, the only left-hander in the side, chanced his luck when he edged Hoggard just short of Marcus Trescothick at first slip, but he then he chanced his arm to great effect with three steepling sixes. He walloped Batty over mid-on, then dispatched Ashley Giles over square leg and straight back over his head.

Meanwhile, Mashud crept to his first Test fifty by cutting the nervy Clarke for three. His fifty came off 121 balls, the majority of his attacking shots being wristy whips through the on side and well-timed cover-drives off Giles and Batty. But Mashud's maiden Test fifty was brought to an end with Clarke's first Test wicket. Mashud again tried to glance a straight ball through leg, but missed it and was plumb lbw for a hard-fought 51 (182 for 8).

Vaughan took the new ball 20 minutes before tea with Bangladesh eight short of 200, and Harmison wrapped up the innings, cleaning up Rafique with a slow inswinging yorker (198 for 9) and then beating Mashrafe Mortaza's defences to take out leg stump.

Harmison finished with a Test-best 5 for 35, but Hoggard was also at the forefront of England's attack and it was he who struck the first blow of the morning with the wicket of Hannan Sarkar for 20. He got one to nip back, contrary to his standard awayswing, and knocked back Sarkar's off stump (38 for 3).

It was just reward for the persistent Hoggard, who worked hard throughout the day in muggy conditions. Harmison carried on his good work from the previous night, and got one to lift sharply. Rajin Saleh could only fend it in the air to Chris Read, who took a comfortable catch running to his left. Saleh made 11 and Bangladesh were on the verge of a disaster at 40 for 4.

But Alok Kapali kick-started the fightback, playing positively from the start and hitting four fours over the still-sluggish outfield. He took seven runs off the first three balls off Clarke, bowling his first over in Tests. Batty was fare more assured and settled than Clarke though, and he made his mark with only his third ball. Kapali completely misjudged a bog-standard offbreak and allowed it to cannon into his off stump (72 for 5).

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

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http://www-usa.cricket.org/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/375531_BDESHENG2003-04_22OCT2003.html

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Steve Harmison: third wicket this morning
© Getty Images

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Argh! Having seen a couple of pictures it look like they’re playing in a damn swamp out there man! This Test will surely end in a draw no? Of course not if Marcus Trescothick keeps going the way he has been - he just completed his 5th Test hundred with a magnificent SIX - and is in the form of his life!

It’ll be tough for England to win this with the weather problem though.

:smokin2: