Bangladesh and the problem of consistency

A friend of mine at work has made a request – that was a great win for Bangladesh against England earlier this month, he said, but how come they got thumped so badly a few days later? When was the last time, the Banglas won two one-dayers in a row?

 

It was a light-hearted question (at least I think it was) – something to pass the time between making tea and spotting planes out the window. However, a bit of research reveals some startling and important facts.

Although the last time Bangladesh won two in a row was actually not that long ago (they had a 4-1 series victory only last year), this was against Zimbabwe. There are two versions of cricket statistics – those against all teams, and those excluding the rubbish ones.

In a nutshell, my friend’s implication (that Bangladesh don’t win two games in a row against half-decent teams very often) is absolutely true.

My research revealed that, counting matches against only their fellow Test-playing countries (and discounting that weird series when the West Indies were so short of players I think I could have got a game if I’d been on holiday in Jamaica at the time), Bangladesh have NEVER won two one-dayers in a row.

I also discovered that the stunning wins we know all about are often followed not just by losses, but by HEAVY losses - a surprise victory is sometimes the precursor to the mother of all beatings.

Don’t forget, three days after famously beating Australia in the Ashes 2005 prelude in Cardiff, the Tigers were thumped by England by 168 runs. That was actually England’s highest score (391 for 4 with Andrew Strauss scoring 152) before this year’s thrashing.

So Bangladesh’s capitulation three days after a wonderful victory is not a surprise. Whether it’s a hangover, or its just the opposition not wanting to get embarrassed again, the Tigers just can’t win two in a row. When this can be rectified perhaps Bangladesh will be on their way to making real progress.

For the stats on Bangladesh’s record in one-dayers go to http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/25.html?class=2;template=results;type=team;view=results