Bangladesh V England, 2nd test, Mirpur, 20 March - 24 March

I think Swanny will not under-value his 10-fer in the 1st Test. The Bangers made him work very hard for it.

Henry wrote:Reasonable effort from the bangers. Cook has been quite defensive, though. Tredwell and Bresnan will only ever be honest triers so why we took them on a tour like this and left the likes of Rashid etc at home is beyond me.

Rashid has been very poorly treated, fair enough he didn't impress earlier on in the winter but this was the ideal opportunity to see what he could do. If they can't risk him against Bangladesh then when can they?

I suspect he's going to be another of these great English leg-spin prospects who will either drift out of the game completely or become simply a mediocre county batsman who turns his arm over a bit by the time he reaches his late 20s.

So I wake up to this bull.

F**king selectors, f**king Cook, whoever it was, go f**k yourselves.

Clueless motherf**ckers. Qunts.

ECB: Employ FB as selection panel. The media will hate you, but at least you'll have a good squad and team.

F**kers.

beamer wrote:

Henry wrote:Reasonable effort from the bangers. Cook has been quite defensive, though. Tredwell and Bresnan will only ever be honest triers so why we took them on a tour like this and left the likes of Rashid etc at home is beyond me.

Rashid has been very poorly treated, fair enough he didn't impress earlier on in the winter but this was the ideal opportunity to see what he could do. If they can't risk him against Bangladesh then when can they?

I suspect he's going to be another of these great English leg-spin prospects who will either drift out of the game completely or become simply a mediocre county batsman who turns his arm over a bit by the time he reaches his late 20s.

England lost their bottle with Rashid. They are worried that he'll turn to mush if he gets smacked around a couple of times. It's part and parcel of being a leg spinner. Even Warne got tonked around early on. It was a mistake to release Rashid from the england set up.

Fark, I find myself agreeing with Trev . . . . well, I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day . ..

Farkkkkkk, thought this started tomorrow morning. Farking timezones!

Looks a good effort from the Banglaboys from the scorecard, could have even been better at a couple of stages. They look to have 5 or 6 pretty decent players these days.

Sigh, just seen that Tredwell got a cap. Worst spinner to get a gig since Gazza Batty

JKLever wrote:Sigh, just seen that Tredwell got a cap. Worst spinner to get a gig since Gazza Batty

Part of the reason for my expletive-loaded post earlier.

Obviously we have decided to follow Aus in the 'must have a makeshift opener' policy.

Enough with the Rashid already- the only thing he's got going for him is that his bowling style is wrist spin. He doesn't have the control, variation or general devil in his bowling as his county career bares out. Salisbury was a far better county performer and so was Schofield when he was starting out.

The thing about leg-spin is yes you're likely to get a few more revs and bit more actio on the ball but the art of flicking the ball out the front of the wrist being so tricky means unless you spin it prodigiously (like Macgill) or are a seasoned performer with savy & control (like Kumble) or one of the rare ones who can do both (Warne, Quadir and...) you're always likely to be a bit of a liability. Rashid bowls legspin to a good club level and when pitches dry out at height of summer is a useful county bowler. I've seen nothing to suggest he can trouble good international players consistently.

England have NEVER had a consistently successful leggy in 120 years of international cricket. Conservatism and conditions have played their part but I'd suggest there's also an innate flaw in style of bowling. I think it's all a case of seeing Warne and everyone drooling and saying "I want one of those".

Apart from a few less revs on the ball and smaller chin is Tredwell really so different to Swann? By all accounts he at least gives it some flight unlike a certain Monty Panesar.

Clamson wrote:

JKLever wrote:Sigh, just seen that Tredwell got a cap. Worst spinner to get a gig since Gazza Batty

Part of the reason for my expletive-loaded post earlier.

Obviously we have decided to follow Aus in the 'must have a makeshift opener' policy.

At least we didn't go with Luke Wright in the TAYne POCson role I suppose...

Is Tredwell the first Kent offie to play for England? Key reportedly sometimes bowls offies but didn't bowl for England, I don't think. The last slow right-arm Kent bowler to play for England was Doug Wright who was a leggie as was 'Tich' Freeman. I can't think of any other Kent offie to play Tests, offhand (pardon the pun).

interestingly, Martin Saggers, the last but one Kent bowler to play for England, also made his debut against Bangladesh 7 years ago after being drafted into the squad. His Test career appears to be limited to that Test and 2 home appearances against New Zealand the following season, though. I hope Tredwell manages more that that.

The pitch is flatter than a Flat Earth Society member's wet dream - so taking eight wickets on the first day is decent enough. Cook doesn't appear to have much faith in Finn though.

Basil wrote:The pitch is flatter than a Flat Earth Society member's wet dream - so taking eight wickets on the first day is decent enough. Cook doesn't appear to have much faith in Finn though.

Finns figures look expensive but he didn't appear to be bowling total dross.

Added to the pitches flatness, the outfield appears quicker than the speed of light too.

But still, James Tredwell.

FFS

JKLever wrote:

Basil wrote:The pitch is flatter than a Flat Earth Society member's wet dream - so taking eight wickets on the first day is decent enough. Cook doesn't appear to have much faith in Finn though.

Finns figures look expensive but he didn't appear to be bowling total dross.

Added to the pitches flatness, the outfield appears quicker than the speed of light too.

But still, James Tredwell.

FFS

At least Batty had hair, even if it is ginger

I suppose the question is should England be going all out for the victory and tour whitewash, or the safety first don't lose and make sure we win the series approach? If it was anyone other than Bangladesh it would be the latter.

I'd like to think England will come out all guns firing and aim to win by an innings - but I don't think Cook's that sort of captain - tbh, I'm expecting a bore-fest from here on in and handshakes all round some time after tea on the fifth day.

Pundits were saying this pitch started a lot drier than Chittagong.

Going to have to really spin for the Bangles to make this interesting especially with Tredwell batting at 10...

JKLever wrote:Pundits were saying this pitch started a lot drier than Chittagong.

Going to have to really spin for the Bangles to make this interesting especially with Tredwell batting at 10...

Ok, but we're really going to have to put the foot to the floor to give ourselves enough time to take ten wickets in the second innings.

Clamson wrote:Obviously we have decided to follow Aus in the 'must have a makeshift opener' policy.

We've had two in most of our recent Tests.

And the pitch in this match is supposed to be one that will not be fun to bat on late on day 4 and through day 5, England will need to rack up quite a few runs when they bat today.

The Poms need Beau Geste costumes.

400 up for the Bangers. Well done them.

England scratching around like they're clinging on for dear life.

Surprised that Shafiul was able to get away like that, sheer arse.

England settling in.

It's almost a tradition for England to allow a young, untested tail ender to biff his way to a maiden half century. Remember Monde Zondeki in 2003? I bet Shafiul doesn't make another 50 in his career.

I also wish Broad would stop carrying on and actually start taking wickets. How many tests has he played now? 25? And his bowling average is still 36.

The South Africans look to be steadying things for England.