Let's start with the bare fact that England won the test match by a pretty comfortable margin. However, they were made to labour for victory by a spirited Bangladeshi batting lineup, who finally found some form on a placid Lord's wicket. Score is as follows:England 505 (Trott 226, Strauss 83, Shahadat 5-98) and 163-2 (Strauss 82) beat Bangladesh 282 (Junaid 58, Tamim 55, Anderson 4-78, Finn 4-100) and 382 (following on) (Tamim 103, Kayes 75, Junaid 74, Finn 5-87) by 8 wickets
After watching the whole first day, England were 362-4 and Jonathan Trott, fresh from finding form on the county circuit (see, there is a point to county cricket - this blog is worthwhile I swear!), had hit 175* without giving a single chance to the fielders. Oh dear, thought I - here we go for some more lifeless and uncompetetive Test match cricket. I was wrong. The next morning, Shahadat Hossain woke up a different bowler, with an extra yard of pace and bounce to trouble England and eventually get himself onto the hallowed Lord's Honours Board. However, with a bit of weather and bad light around on Day 3, the rusty-looking England bowlers found the swing they'd been missing and eventually forced the follow-on (inviting the opposition to bat again if they fall 200 or more short of the 1st innings total). Out strode Tamim Iqbal with a blistering counter attack, failing to move his feet but timing the ball so sweetly to all parts. He was particularly brutal to the off-spin of Graeme Swann, one of a few England players looking weary after the Twenty20 exploits - England's 3 key men in this game (Trott, Strauss and man-of-the-match Steve Finn) had not made that trip and had played plenty of Championship cricket. It showed. It was Finn who eventually removed Tamim on the hook and then used the short ball effectively to run through the lineup on Days 4 and 5. 160 was never a stiff target for the batsmen.
The scary thing about Tamim is that he has been so productive in test cricket recently, yet still has fundamental flaws in his defensive technique i.e. he doesn't play defensively and never moves his feet sufficiently against good bowling. He is 21 years of age. The talent that he possesses is frightening and if he receives the right guidance, he could be the new Brian Lara, such is the flamboyance with which he played some of his strokes. I know I have been harsh on Bangladesh's batting so far on this tour, but their Top 8 can all play a bit and they need to be persevered with and allowed to mature and settle at international level if the nation is to progress. They do not need morons like Geoffrey Boycott telling them what to do. The arrogance he has to tell Tamim to his face that Bangladesh "do not belong in Test cricket because the bowling is woeful" is beyond belief. England certainly cannot afford to play in the Ashes with four bowlers - Swann was ineffective on this pitch but could not be carried as a result of the weighting of the team.
Finally on this subject, anyone who gets onto the Lord's Honours Board deserves a Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week Award - congratualtions to Jonathan Trott, Shahadat Hossain, Tamim Iqbal and Steven Finn. LADS
Back to the county circuit, so much less glamourous now the Test match summer is here. Or is it? The CB 40 takes a break now at the halfway stage, with Somerset, Surrey, Yorkshire and Warwickshire currently occupying the semi-final spots. In its stead comes the revamped Friends Provident T20, complete with two overseas players per team. Sky Sports have reeled out yet another classic ad, this time featuring Nick Knight and assorted dancing girls giving umpiring signals to Dreadlock Holiday. Inspired. Knight was expectedly embarrassed when David Lloyd brought it up during the Test match commentary. You really expect the team with the biggest stars to prosper in this competition. With that in mind, don't bet against Middlesex (Adam Gilchrist and David Warner), Durham (Albie Morkel and Ross Taylor), Somerset (Cameron White and Kieron Pollard) and Sussex (Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith). We start tomorrow with a repeat of last year's final, Sussex vs Somerset. With the expansion to compete against the IPL and the subsequent signing of some of the game's brightest lights, this should be the best competition ever.
Here's hoping anyway
RM
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