Army of eights
If there is something that characterises this England side, it is the bowling pin nature of their batting contributions: little up top, a lot lower down. The numbers show as much: this year, England’s sixth-wicket average is their highest (over 80), with the seventh, averaging over 50, their next best. Not for the first time, they were bailed out again by weighty contributions down the order, as Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid put on 99 for the ninth wicket – the highest English partnership for that wicket in Asia. Instead of a tail, England had Zafar Ansari at number eight – who has opened the batting for Surrey – followed by Woakes (nine first-class hundreds) and Rashid (10). As cricket writer Dave Tickner pointed out, given the value of having a strong batsman at number eight, “it must surely count as cheating of some sort for England to have three of them”. While their army of eights haven’t quite sorted the spin department, it has given England the level of insurance with the bat that no other Test side can match. VE
Second of Mehedi
Long before Mehedi Hasan was a Test cricketer, he outlined his ambitions to “lead Bangladesh from the front” in a 15-year career that, he hopes, will culminate with him becoming the best all-rounder in the world. If those declarations raised a smirk then, they certainly don’t jar as much now. After marking his debut in Chittagong with a five-wicket haul, he became the first Bangladeshi to follow that with another five-for in his second Test. Conditions have been in his favour, but he has bowled with the control and nous of a spinner older than his 19 years. Fittingly, it was Mehedi who would break the ninth-wicket partnership, removing Woakes with his fourth delivery with the new ball. VE
DRS has eroded faith in umpires
Back in the early days of DRS the standard line was that it was there to eliminate “the howler”, aka the kind of decision from the umpires that Nasser Hussain might have got in the late 90s. Back then, no one foresaw that it might invent a new kind of howler: the one seen in the 25th over of England’s innings. Joe Root propped forward and pushed Shakib Al-Hasan’s delivery back to the bowler off the middle of the lower half of his bat and the fervent appeal from Mushfiqur Rahman behind the stumps frankly seemed bizarre. Still, the man behind the stumps, who couldn’t see the shot, opted for the review despite Shakib’s curbed enthusiasm. With a record number of decisions having been overturned in the first Test, this showed how far the players’ faith in the umpires has fallen. DL
England need to work out their batting order
It was a surprise, when Johnny Bairstow was dismissed, to see Zafar Ansari walking out at No8 ahead of Chris Woakes, never mind that Bairstow is far too low in the order at seven. Ansari is a competent enough county batsman, with three hundreds to his name and a respectable average – for an all-rounder – of 31. He is, however, a young man, on Test debut, sent out with his team 114 for six and in danger of collapsing against the lowest-ranked Test team (Zimbabwe don’t count). It is strange that England placed so little faith in Chris Woakes – Test average 33 and arguably England’s most in-form player – that he was stuffed down at No9 … where, almost inevitably, he played exactly the innings needed to grind England out of a hole and towards Bangladesh’s 220. DL
Steven Finn remains a problem for England
That eyebrows were raised when Alastair Cook opened the bowling with Steven Finn in Bangladesh’s second innings says enough. The Middlesex bowler is, clearly, an enormously talented cricketer and has performed well for England in the past. But with that talent and that height, England fans still cling to the hope that he can be their terrifying 90mph-plus totem. However performances such as in this match, which can be kindly described as anodyne, are far too common from Finn and he has never performed consistently in international cricket. Finn is 27 and should be at the peak of his powers; instead he looks increasingly like a wasted talent. DL
