Imran Khan
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Give Bangladesh a break
At 3.30 GMT this morning Bangladesh made their Test debut at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. The opponents were India, the forecast was excellent for each of the five days - or however many are needed - and an entire nation was beside itself with excitement. After years of knocking on heaven's door, Bangladesh were finally rubbing shoulders with the demi-gods of cricket. Blow your trumpets, beat your drums and sing it from the rooftops. And then pause for a moment. Because if you listen carefully, there are some dissenting whispers.
The most common complaint is that Bangladesh simply aren't up to it. The truth is, they would probably struggle in Division Two of the County Championship (on a recent tour of South Africa they were skittled for 54 and 51 in consecutive matches). They may have beaten Pakistan in last year's World Cup - a result that was largely responsible for their elevation to Test status - but that game has been tainted by match-fixing rumours so often it has lost all credibility. Their coach at the time, Gordon Greenidge, warned that Bangladesh weren't ready for Test cricket anyway. He was promptly sacked.
This was harsh, but Greenidge, like many others, missed the point. No, Bangladesh may not be good enough at the moment (although they batted respectably this morning to close on 239 for 6). But neither were most sides when they stepped onto the biggest stage. Of the other nine Test teams, only two avoided defeat in their inaugural game: Australia, who beat England at Melbourne in 1876-77 in the very first Test of all; and Zimbabwe, who drew with India at Harare in 1992-93. West Indies lost their first three Tests by an innings, while New Zealand had to wait 26 years and 44 matches until their first Test win. Pakistan and India struggled to get any results away from home until the 1970s, and Zimbabwe, eight years after their debut, have won just three games. This stands to reason: the gap between the Test teams and the best of the rest is huge. Apprenticeships are going to be long and hard, and few countries have the means to emerge at the other end. But Bangladesh are one of them.
In a country that only hits the headlines only when it gets flooded, cricket is more than a mere pastime. It's a potential lifejacket. It tells the world that Bangladesh has more to it than natural disasters, and it provides the people with a welcome distraction from their worries about the next monsoon. This in itself doesn't justify Test status, of course, but it does mean that a tiny country packed to the rafters with 125 million people - most of them cricket nuts - has an extra incentive to succeed. In fact, of the nine other Test nations, only India and Pakistan have larger populations. If Bangladesh can improve their infrastructure, their potential is enormous.
Others are worried that the Asian countries - who now account for four of the ten teams - are becoming too powerful. This argument is usually put forward by apologists for the old Anglo-Australian axis. It's hideously out of touch. Like a language, a sport develops naturally. And you can't get more natural than a group of schoolkids armed with bat and ball in a dusty street on the subcontinent. If Asia is becoming powerful, it's because it has become the home of game (remember how Asian crowds lit up the World Cup in England?). The progress of Bangladesh is just the next logical step in the progress of Test cricket.
ICC wants to spread the gospel. If this means sacrificing some of its short-term quality for the good of the game in the long run, then fine. Bangladesh needs a boost: its first Test could give it just that.
Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of wisden.com. To read his previous column, on England's problems against spin
even fit today
At 3.30 GMT this morning Bangladesh made their Test debut at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. The opponents were India, the forecast was excellent for each of the five days - or however many are needed - and an entire nation was beside itself with excitement. After years of knocking on heaven's door, Bangladesh were finally rubbing shoulders with the demi-gods of cricket. Blow your trumpets, beat your drums and sing it from the rooftops. And then pause for a moment. Because if you listen carefully, there are some dissenting whispers.
The most common complaint is that Bangladesh simply aren't up to it. The truth is, they would probably struggle in Division Two of the County Championship (on a recent tour of South Africa they were skittled for 54 and 51 in consecutive matches). They may have beaten Pakistan in last year's World Cup - a result that was largely responsible for their elevation to Test status - but that game has been tainted by match-fixing rumours so often it has lost all credibility. Their coach at the time, Gordon Greenidge, warned that Bangladesh weren't ready for Test cricket anyway. He was promptly sacked.
This was harsh, but Greenidge, like many others, missed the point. No, Bangladesh may not be good enough at the moment (although they batted respectably this morning to close on 239 for 6). But neither were most sides when they stepped onto the biggest stage. Of the other nine Test teams, only two avoided defeat in their inaugural game: Australia, who beat England at Melbourne in 1876-77 in the very first Test of all; and Zimbabwe, who drew with India at Harare in 1992-93. West Indies lost their first three Tests by an innings, while New Zealand had to wait 26 years and 44 matches until their first Test win. Pakistan and India struggled to get any results away from home until the 1970s, and Zimbabwe, eight years after their debut, have won just three games. This stands to reason: the gap between the Test teams and the best of the rest is huge. Apprenticeships are going to be long and hard, and few countries have the means to emerge at the other end. But Bangladesh are one of them.
In a country that only hits the headlines only when it gets flooded, cricket is more than a mere pastime. It's a potential lifejacket. It tells the world that Bangladesh has more to it than natural disasters, and it provides the people with a welcome distraction from their worries about the next monsoon. This in itself doesn't justify Test status, of course, but it does mean that a tiny country packed to the rafters with 125 million people - most of them cricket nuts - has an extra incentive to succeed. In fact, of the nine other Test nations, only India and Pakistan have larger populations. If Bangladesh can improve their infrastructure, their potential is enormous.
Others are worried that the Asian countries - who now account for four of the ten teams - are becoming too powerful. This argument is usually put forward by apologists for the old Anglo-Australian axis. It's hideously out of touch. Like a language, a sport develops naturally. And you can't get more natural than a group of schoolkids armed with bat and ball in a dusty street on the subcontinent. If Asia is becoming powerful, it's because it has become the home of game (remember how Asian crowds lit up the World Cup in England?). The progress of Bangladesh is just the next logical step in the progress of Test cricket.
ICC wants to spread the gospel. If this means sacrificing some of its short-term quality for the good of the game in the long run, then fine. Bangladesh needs a boost: its first Test could give it just that.
Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of wisden.com. To read his previous column, on England's problems against spin
even fit today
abut crying ? some time team sometime women ?in fact both are shemales
