Playthrough - England in the 1990s... and beyond

[Aislabie]

England Tour of Bangladesh, 2003-04

Itinerary
21 Oct 2003 - Bangladesh vs England - First Test at Dhaka - England won by an innings and 49 runs
29 Oct 2003 - Bangladesh vs England - Second Test at Chittagong - England won by an innings and 151 runs

England Squad

Nasser Hussain

Paul Collingwood
Robert Key
Owais Shah
Andrew Strauss
Michael Vaughan

James Foster

Rikki Clarke
Andrew Flintoff
Ben Hollioake

Ian Blackwell
Ashley Giles
Graeme Swann

Gareth Batty
Jason Brown
Gary Keedy
Paul McMahon
Ian Salisbury


This winter's tour to Bangladesh brings with it perhaps the strangest England Test squad we've ever seen. The England selectors have named no fewer than nine recognised spinners in the squad; one assumes that they will not all be able to get game time in what is just a two-match series. In addition to that, there are no specialist seam bowlers in the squad: instead, three all-rounders (Flintoff, Hollioake and Rikki Clarke) will be providing all the seam-up overs the team might need. When asked to explain the selection of each of the spinners in the squad, David Graveney told the press: "Gilo and Swanny are obviously the incumbents. Blackwell has done really well for the ODI team and has earned the opportunity. Batty, Brown and Keedy have all taken 50 wickets each in the Championship this year. Paul McMahon is one of the most exciting talents in the country. And Salisbury is the leg-spinner."

Quite how Hussain manages such an unusual bowling attack will be very interesting indeed.

 

[Aislabie]

Bangladesh vs England - First Test at Dhaka

Bangladeshi XI
Hannan Sarkar
Javed Omar Belim
Hannan Sarkar
Rajin Saleh
Alok Kapali
Mushfiqur Rahman
Khaled Mashud
Khaled Mahmud
Mohammad Rafique
Mashrafe Mortaza
Enamul Haque Jr

English XI
Michael Vaughan
Andrew Strauss
Owais Shah
Nasser Hussain
Andrew Flintoff
Ian Blackwell (debut)
Ben Hollioake
James Foster
Ashley Giles
Gareth Batty (debut)
Gary Keedy (debut)

- - -

Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat

- - -

The half-strength England team selected only three debutants for their first-ever Test in Bangladesh: Ian Blackwell, Gareth Batty and Gary Keedy. The eagle-eyed among you will note that all three are finger spinners, and that will certainly be a theme for this series. Bangladesh named more or less their usual team with very little batting and not much more bowling. Habibul Bashar won the toss and chose to bat first, in the hope that if it came to it, his spinners might get last use of a spinning pitch.

The Bangladeshi batters actually started their innings quite well: they saw off the seam of Flintoff and Hollioake, and kept their heads when the first pair of spinners came on to bowl. Indeed, the 76-run opening partnership lasted until Ian Blackwell came into the attack as technically the fourth spinner. Surprisingly, Blackwell (known in county cricket as much more of a batting all-rounder) was the pick of the bowlers. His accuracy, tuned in vast amounts of one-day cricket, proved perfect for the conditions as he simply let the pitch do the work. He found great support from Gary Keedy, and the pair of them more or less ran through the Bangladeshi batting with eight wickets between them. Late cameos from Khaled Mahmud and Mashrafe Mortaza flattered the home side a little: before those two started swinging Bangladesh were 159 for 8, but they made it to 250.

If anything though, the weaker suit for Bangladesh was their bowling. The English batters feasted: Owais Shah hit an authoritative 76 batting at number three, and Nasser Hussain notched up a sixth Test century: he has proven particularly prolific against Zimbabwe and now Bangladesh. To make things worse for the home side, the entire English lower order got in on the act: Hollioake, Foster, Giles and Batty all biffed spirited cameos, although none passed 50. The result was that England reached their total of 419 all out in a little over five hours' play, and it was time for their bowlers to get back out there.

Again, the Bangladeshi openers saw off the England seamers, and again it didn't matter in the slightest. This time, Ashley Giles turned destroyer in chief, though he was again supported very well by Ian Blackwell. All four spinners took at least one wicket as only one Bangladeshi passed 20 in the second innings. A dismal rout was completed in quick time, the home side bundled out for 120 and England claiming a comfortable (and expected) innings win.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I've also included a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Ian Blackwell - 5 points (+5)
2. Ashley Giles - 3 points (+3)
3. Nasser Hussain - 2 points (+2)
4. Owais Shah - 1 point (+1)

 

[Aislabie]

Bangladesh (0) vs (1) England - Second Test at Chittagong

Bangladeshi XI
Hannan Sarkar
Javed Omar Belim
Hannan Sarkar
Rajin Saleh
Alok Kapali
Mushfiqur Rahman
Khaled Mashud
Khaled Mahmud
Mohammad Rafique
Mashrafe Mortaza
Enamul Haque Jr

English XI
Michael Vaughan
Andrew Strauss
Nasser Hussain
Paul Collingwood (debut)
Ian Blackwell
Rikki Clarke (debut)
Graeme Swann
James Foster
Ian Salisbury
Paul McMahon (debut)
Jason Brown (debut)

- - -

England won the toss and chose to bat

- - -

Against all the odds, England managed to squeeze in every last one of their debutants for the second Test in Chittagong. That meant the inclusion of Paul Collingwood and Rikki Clarke as the entire seam department, while Jason Brown and 20-year-old Paul McMahon both made their first appearances as England spinners. To make room for everyone, England left out yet another batter, meaning that debutant Collingwood would bat at four, with Blackwell, Rikki Clarke and Graeme Swann as the 5, 6 and 7. To those who think England aren't taking Bangladesh seriously, this line-up screams a resounding "CORRECT!"

This time, Hussain won the toss and batted first. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Hussain hit another century: this one with the quirk that the first 93 runs came before lunch (and after the dismissal of Michael Vaughan for only three). Not only that, but Hussain would go on to make it a double: his career-best 214 coming as the flashy half of a 364-run second wicket partnership with Andrew Strauss, who made his maiden Test century with an innings of 172. Hussain could have declared when that partnership was broken, but wanted to give Paul Collingwood a fair crack of the whip: the Durham man rewarding him with a further 84 runs. It was when his wicket fell that Hussain declared the innings.

This was probably a bit of a hiding to nothing for Rikki Clarke to make his debut as a seamer: far more about simply getting a debut under his belt than necessarily getting much out of it. Across both innings, his ten wicketless overs cost only 14 runs, as he made a more than acceptable start to his career. Really though, this engagement was all about the spinners. All five of them. Swann quickly got into his work, and ultimately bagged a five-wicket haul that included wickets from the last two balls of the first innings. Ian Salisbury took the wickets of both opening batters, while Blackwell and Brown shared the remaining three between them. Paul McMahon was the only spinner to finish the first innings wicketless.

He needn't have worried though: no sooner had Hussain enforced the follow-on (Bangladesh had made only 171 in their first innings) than McMahon was this time the first spinner Hussain turned to. He repaid that faith by taking a wicket with his first ball: Javed Omar caught close on the leg side. He would end up book-ending the innings nicely as he also took the 10th and final wicket to fall, which confirmed the statistical oddity of England taking all 40 wickets in the Test series with spin. The remaining wickets were spread amongst Swann and Blackwell (three each) and Jason Brown (two) as Bangladesh were bowled out for exactly 200.

After the game, Hussain described the series as "a valuable opportunity for us to look towards the future." Quite what they will have learnt is debatable, save for the fact that county cricket has a plentiful stock of spinners that the England team could turn to in a pinch. The one who stood out most though, apart from the two usual incumbents, was Ian Blackwell. The big Somerset man might just have become the third spinner to be taken on future Subcontinent tours.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I've also included a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
3. Nasser Hussain - 7 points (+5)
1. Ian Blackwell - 6 points (+1)
2. Ashley Giles - 3 points
=. Andrew Strauss - 3 points (+3)
5. Graeme Swann - 2 points (+2)
4. Owais Shah - 1 point