|| CF Correspondent||

The Bangladesh national team began their tour of Ireland and the very start of their world cup bid with a chastening 88 run loss against the Ireland Wolves.

In essence the Ireland second team. Although on paper the margin of loss appears surprising, given the alien conditions and their poor record of warm up matches prior to the 2015 world cup, there was always a good chance of the Irish ending up victorious. In the event a spirited Irish team appeared more committed and ready to pounce on the many errors which typified the Bangladesh performance, the hosts outplaying their opponents in all departments of the game.

The game was set against a rustic backdrop of empty fields in the quaint village of Milverton, about one hour’s drive north of Dublin city. The venue, somewhat misleadingly named the “vineyard” normally plays host to The Hills Cricket Club, the hospitality shown by the Club truly did justice  to the famed Irish quality of showing generosity and kindness to guests. However no amount of local hospitality could make up for the cold and overcast climate, experiencing a temperature drop of almost 30c was always going to make acclimatisation challenging for the Bangladesh team. During the game Neil McKenzie, Bangladesh batting coach, commented on how it was different wickets rather than the temperature that might create the most problems, “we’ve played in New Zealand recently which was pretty cold and most of the experienced guys know what it takes to play in different conditions. But I think it’s more to do with surfaces, your lines and lengths need to change”. He went on to say how playing in England also demanded changes in strokeplay, “in Bangladesh you can throw your hands at the ball and stay legside, in England you have to play the ball late, Steve Rhodes knows English conditions which we will use that to our advantage. These guys are quality players, you put them on a different surface and they will work it out for themselves”. The course of the match proved how much the Bangladesh coaching staff will need to reiterate these sentiments as the quick bowlers struggled to find an effective length and line and the batsmen found it difficult to come to terms with a green tinged wicket, displaying numerous poor shot selections.

Ireland Wolves won the toss and the sensible decision to bat first paid dividends, after a cagey start from the Irish the Bangladesh team looked increasingly flat in the field, hands refusing to leave pockets as they forlornly tried to stay warm. Opening spells from Rubel and Taskin caused moderate discomfort to the Irish openers but it was only after Shakib, who was skipper for the day brought himself on, that a degree of control was exerted. He bowled with his customary guile to tie down the batsmen, ultimately recording figures of 1-30 off his full quota of overs. At the halfway stage of the innings the Irish had reached a handy total of 123-2. It was around this time that the backbone of the innings was constructed with a third wicket partnership between McCollum and Singh, they added 124 together during a phase of acceleration when the short boundaries square of the wicket were targeted, particularly when the bowlers pitched the ball even factionally short. McCollum eventually fell the ball after reaching his century, Taskin finding the outer half of his bat as a mishit ended up with a catch on the cover boundary. The compact McCollum top scored for his team with 102 off 109 balls. Wickets fell regularly after his dismissal but useful runs were added by the tail, in the process Bangladesh’s death bowling plans looked like they lacked clarity, Rubel leaked 18 runs in the final over.

At the end of the match top scorer McCollum remained effusive about his contribution and the effectiveness of the attack he faced, “Shakib bowled well, very tight but perhaps their spinners weren’t as effective as they would be on a larger ground, it is still a good attack. It was a good batting track, similar to conditions that they will face in England”.