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

Traitor?

Just imagine if England can only capture four of the five wickets they need tomorrow. If Junaid Siddique finishes the day with an undefeated 150, and he can embrace his heroic last-wicket partner Rubel Hossain before leaving the pitch to the acclaim of his teammates and country.

Wonderful.

I want Bangladesh to bat out the day and get a draw. There, I’ve said it.

The answer you’ve been waiting for

A few days ago I posed a question. Who took nine wickets on his only appearance for England, in a match against Bangladesh in 2003?

I apologise for the delay in giving the answer, but it seems there was a flaw in the question. I plumped for Martin Saggers, who did indeed play in that game, his debut. But Saggers didn’t take nine wickets, and he went on to to play in two more Tests.

The answer (according to the Guardian) was actually Richard Johnson (below), who finished with match figures of 9 for 93. However, according to my research, Johnson too played in three Tests. Everyone following at the back?

There was a further cricket question in Wednesday’s paper -

“New Zealand batsmen Bert Sutcliffe holds the world record for Tests played without ever tasting victory. How many failures did he suffer?”

The answer, if we can trust it, is an incredible 42. Sutcliffe’s debut was in New Zealand’s fifteenth Test in 1947, and when he made his last appearance in 1965, the Kiwis had still not won a single match.

It puts Bangladesh’s current plight, winning 3 out of their first 64 Tests, into some kind of perspective.