England's win in the first test has been over rated by the bookmakers for this second and final test with Bangledesh. If not for a decent display of bowling by Harmison and Hoggard on the morning of day five then the first test would have finished as a draw. Infact the duo above took 16 of the 20 Bangledesh wickets, which says very little for the spinners Giles and Batty.
Bangledesh are an improving nation. I know they showed very little in the World Cup earlier in the year, but under the new guidence of Dav Whatmore, who brought Sri Lankan cricket forward, the Tigers have a bit more resillence about them and their performances have seen improvements firstly with Australia, then frightening Pakistan where they lost narrowly by 1 wicket from recording their first test match victory.
What has been evident over the years in Bangledesh is that the wickets are slow and dry, more so, than in India or any sub continent test cricket playing nation. The second test takes place in Chittagong and according to cricinfo, two wickets have been prepared, one as a pre-caution. The scheduled wicket is bare with no dead grass rolled in. A typical spinners wicket and after the way the England spinners were out performed by their counterparts from Bangledesh who took 8 of the 13 wickets to fall, life may just become more difficult. This leads to low scoring rates which is evident here in the four tests that have been played at this ground. Zimbabwe made 542 for the loss of 7 wickets but it took 160 overs, Pakistan scored 465 for 9 in 136 overs, the West Indies made 296 in 93 overs and South Africa took 130 overs to register their 470 for 2 wickets. These scores are all below the average scoring rate for these nations over their last three years.
Putting the batting to one side, out of the four countries South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, pause for a moment and think who took the most wickets for their respective countries. Apart from the West Indies where a handful of bowlers chipped in I can tell all of you that none of the following dominated any innings. Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini both played for South Africa, as did Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan and the ever present and reliable Heath Streak for Zimbabwe found it heavy going. So who were the heroes with the ball? Well Paul Adams (South Africa) came out on top bagging five wickets in both innings. Next came Grant Flower (Zimbabwe) who took four wickets in each innings whilst being supported by his fellow countryman Doug Marillier who collected six wickets in the match. Lastly, and the best spinner of them all, Saqlain Mushtaq took five wickets in the first innings for Pakistan.
News is in that Harmison is doubtful and Johnson is standing by, but I have also received news that Harmison will play and Johnson will play in the place of Giles and Vaughan will be used as the additional spinner. My thoughts are that England may well struggle to take 20 wickets on this pitch and this game could well end as a draw. At 7/1 some will be interested. I can't pull the trigger myself, but neither could I back England at 1/8 if someone gave me the money. This may be better to wait until after the first day's play before deciding on any outcome.
Now back to the English batting, and what can be said is that with Trescothick, Vaughan and Thorpe out of the equation what have England got left. In fact these three players were the only ones to make 20 runs in either innings at Dhaka. Tresco has been in good nick on this tour and Vaughan with his unbeaten 81 in the second innings last week showed some resemblance of a return to form. Thorpe made a good 64 in the first innings.
Both Butcher and Hussain are a long way from their best and this must be a concern. Hussain was once known for his guile and patience in playing spinners, but this has clearly been missing on this tour so far. Scores of 0 and 17 won't spark fear into Bangledesh. Infact Hussain had three lifes for his 17 in the second innings last week. Dropped twice and given not out for LBW that somehow the Umpire thought was going to miss the wickets when it was clear to all that all three stumps would have been in danger of being knocked over. However, justice was done very shortly afterwards as Hussain was out LBW to a delivery that would have missed another set of wickets alonside the mandatory set.
Bet365 have made a mis-match here in their player vs. player batting market. HUSSAIN vs. THORPE. (1st innings only). Their individual form with the bat at present is miles apart and at 8/11 Thorpe looks a solid bet to come out the winner.
This selection has been tipped up at betingzone alongwith a draw for the second test. The draw has also been highlighted at a number of other sites.
Bangledesh are an improving nation. I know they showed very little in the World Cup earlier in the year, but under the new guidence of Dav Whatmore, who brought Sri Lankan cricket forward, the Tigers have a bit more resillence about them and their performances have seen improvements firstly with Australia, then frightening Pakistan where they lost narrowly by 1 wicket from recording their first test match victory.
What has been evident over the years in Bangledesh is that the wickets are slow and dry, more so, than in India or any sub continent test cricket playing nation. The second test takes place in Chittagong and according to cricinfo, two wickets have been prepared, one as a pre-caution. The scheduled wicket is bare with no dead grass rolled in. A typical spinners wicket and after the way the England spinners were out performed by their counterparts from Bangledesh who took 8 of the 13 wickets to fall, life may just become more difficult. This leads to low scoring rates which is evident here in the four tests that have been played at this ground. Zimbabwe made 542 for the loss of 7 wickets but it took 160 overs, Pakistan scored 465 for 9 in 136 overs, the West Indies made 296 in 93 overs and South Africa took 130 overs to register their 470 for 2 wickets. These scores are all below the average scoring rate for these nations over their last three years.
Putting the batting to one side, out of the four countries South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, pause for a moment and think who took the most wickets for their respective countries. Apart from the West Indies where a handful of bowlers chipped in I can tell all of you that none of the following dominated any innings. Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini both played for South Africa, as did Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan and the ever present and reliable Heath Streak for Zimbabwe found it heavy going. So who were the heroes with the ball? Well Paul Adams (South Africa) came out on top bagging five wickets in both innings. Next came Grant Flower (Zimbabwe) who took four wickets in each innings whilst being supported by his fellow countryman Doug Marillier who collected six wickets in the match. Lastly, and the best spinner of them all, Saqlain Mushtaq took five wickets in the first innings for Pakistan.
News is in that Harmison is doubtful and Johnson is standing by, but I have also received news that Harmison will play and Johnson will play in the place of Giles and Vaughan will be used as the additional spinner. My thoughts are that England may well struggle to take 20 wickets on this pitch and this game could well end as a draw. At 7/1 some will be interested. I can't pull the trigger myself, but neither could I back England at 1/8 if someone gave me the money. This may be better to wait until after the first day's play before deciding on any outcome.
Now back to the English batting, and what can be said is that with Trescothick, Vaughan and Thorpe out of the equation what have England got left. In fact these three players were the only ones to make 20 runs in either innings at Dhaka. Tresco has been in good nick on this tour and Vaughan with his unbeaten 81 in the second innings last week showed some resemblance of a return to form. Thorpe made a good 64 in the first innings.
Both Butcher and Hussain are a long way from their best and this must be a concern. Hussain was once known for his guile and patience in playing spinners, but this has clearly been missing on this tour so far. Scores of 0 and 17 won't spark fear into Bangledesh. Infact Hussain had three lifes for his 17 in the second innings last week. Dropped twice and given not out for LBW that somehow the Umpire thought was going to miss the wickets when it was clear to all that all three stumps would have been in danger of being knocked over. However, justice was done very shortly afterwards as Hussain was out LBW to a delivery that would have missed another set of wickets alonside the mandatory set.
Bet365 have made a mis-match here in their player vs. player batting market. HUSSAIN vs. THORPE. (1st innings only). Their individual form with the bat at present is miles apart and at 8/11 Thorpe looks a solid bet to come out the winner.
This selection has been tipped up at betingzone alongwith a draw for the second test. The draw has also been highlighted at a number of other sites.
