A Brief History of Cricket in Bangladesh

The Cricket-Culture is not at all a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. As elsewhere in the subcontinent, the game itself was first introduced to the Ganges- Brahmaputra delta region by the British rulers nearly two centuries ago. For the better part of the British rule, cricket remained a recreational game for the aristocrats, inaccessible to the common people because of colonial class distinctions and the complicated nature of the game which the locals did not make out so easily.

Following the bloody freedom struggle which ended in Bangladesh gaining independence in 1971, cricket has continued to grow. It was slow to start, other things having priority at the beginning. Early in 1975 the Dhaka (then "Dacca") stadium was in disrepair, the square having sunk several inches and the the Press Club shell-torn.

The M.C.C. tour in 1976/77 helped to build the enthusiasm, over 40,000 people attending the representative match at Dhaka. In 1977 Bangladesh became an Associate member of the I.C.C. Two further M.C.C. teams toured in 1978/79 and 1980/81.

The standard of cricket quickly rose, and soon Bangladesh was the top ICC associate country in the region, winning all ACC tournaments. This gave them the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup, against teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Third Asia Cup took place in Bangladesh in 1988 with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating as well as the host country. In 1989/90 Bangladesh played hosts to the First Under-19 Asia Cup.

In 1997, Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia, qualifying for its first ever world cup appearance. Soon after, Bangladesh, along with Kenya were granted full ODI status by the ICC. Bangladesh posted it's first ODI win against Kenya in India in 1998.

In October of 1998, Bangladesh hosted (although they did not participate) the first ever "Mini World Cup", a knock-out basis ODI tournament featuring all the test playing nations. In 1999, in their maiden appearance at the World Cup in England, Bangladesh defeated fellow ICC associate Scotland, and then pulled off the upset of the tournament against favorites Pakistan. As a reward of bright performance in ICC and World Cup, Bangladesh was given the status of the 10th test playing nation on the 26th June, 2000.

As the famous ex-cricketer Mr.Ali Bacher of South Africa noted during his visit to Dhaka, 'the game of cricket has great prospects in a country like Bangladesh where there is cricket on the streets, cricket in the schools, in the villages, a competitive league and Friday cricket- drawing crowds of spectators who love the game in all it's forms.' The game having shed it's aristocratic restrictions prospers at the very grass-roots of Bangladeshi society.

Liverpool held in Thailand friendly

Substitute Sutee Suksomkit scored a second-half equaliser to earn Thailand a surprise 1-1 draw with Premier League Liverpool overnight.

Lifted by a partisan Bangkok crowd dressed mainly in red, the 18-times English champions went ahead after only six minutes through Ryan Babel but were unable to hold on for a preseason victory in wet and humid conditions.

Babel latched on to an incisive pass from captain Jamie Carragher, turned a defender and calmly slotted the ball underneath onrushing keeper Kosin Hathairattanakul.

Babel almost made it two 15 minutes later when a Lucas cross-field pass found him in space at the far post but the Dutch international's tame shot went wide.

The Thai team, coached by former England international Peter Reid, put some good passing movements together but failed to trouble the Liverpool defence before the break.

Liverpool made a number of changes at half-time, but Martin Skrtel could only last 10 minutes before limping off injured.

Thailand drew level when substitute Sutee combined with striker Teerasul Dangda in the 71st minute to split the Liverpool defence, before executing a clinical finish into the bottom left-hand corner.

Thailand's monsoon rains poured down on the players soon after and an ecstatic cheer erupted throughout the packed crowd when Fernando Torres entered the field.

He could have scored within 30 seconds of coming on but shot poorly into the arms of Kosin, raising a loud cheer from a Rajamangala stadium awash with fans kitted out in replica Liverpool shirts.

"I think the fans are more pleased with Torres than us," Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez joked.

"We had some chances, we were playing against a team that was well organised, and they play quick.

"You come to a new continent and conditions are different, always more difficult, but I was pleased with the performance of some players and also pleased to see the national team play well."

Liverpool will play the Singapore national team on Sunday on the second and final leg of its Asian tour.

No permanent slot for IPL in calendar: ICC

The Indian Premier League will not be given a permanent slot in the international cricket calendar, the ICC said on Tuesday. Many top cricketers had to sit out of IPL due to their national commitments which had prompted calls for granting the cash-rich Twenty20 event a permanent window in the ICC calendar.

But the game's governing body is not considering any such proposal at the moment. "No we are not considering giving a window to IPL. Mr Lalit Modi (IPL commissioner) has frequently said that a window for IPL is not appropriate and I agree with him," ICC President David Morgan said in a telephonic interview from

London. Asked whether this could lead to players opting out of bilateral tours to take part in the IPL, Morgan said it would only happen in the case of those on the brink of retirement. "I think some cricketers who are coming to the end of their career will opt to play in domestic leagues like IPL. But I believe established international cricketers will want to play international cricket," he said.

The Twenty20 boom has cast a shadow on the future of Test cricket, which was in any case losing popularity with spectators. Morgan said ICC has plans to revitalise the longest version of the sport and reducing Test matches to four days was one of the options. "I believe that Test cricket is very interesting product but there have been some matches that have been played in front of very poor crowd. The matches have been draws almost from day two forward and that is often due to the pitch not giving a fair balance between ball and bat," he said. "But having said that, there has been some great Test matches in recent times. They have been played over four or five days. The Ashes Test in Birmingham was one of the greatest of all times and that finished in three days and one session. "We look at Test cricket as prime product and we look at the possibility of four days rather than five. We concern ourselves with quality of pitches and also overrate, because we have to be ever conscious of the need of the paying public," he added.

Asked whether the ICC would consider a two-tier structure for Tests, Morgan said such a system was already in place. "To some extent, that happens currently, doesn't it? Because in a six-year cycle, some nations play each other home-and-away every four years as opposed to six years. They play five-match Test match series as opposed to three-match Test series. So there already is an element of stronger teams playing each other more frequently," he said. Morgan did not foresee any such threat to one-day cricket, which he said was the cash-provider for the other formats. "The 50-overs game has been the cash-provider for other forms of cricket over a long period of time and I believe there is a continuing future for 50-over cricket. We have introduced the batting powerplays and I believe that is a quite bold change and that would definitely add interest to

the game," he said.

The ever-increasing cricket has raised concerns about the players' fitness and whether they can cope with playing almost non-stop through the year. Morgan said it was upto the member boards to decide the quantity of matches. "It's not ICC which determines the volume of cricket, member boards do. But it's important that players have time to practise, to rest and to recharge their batteries," he said.

Players' behaviour has also become a concern with some ugly on-field spats in the past few years but Morgan insisted that a bit of banter doesn't harm anyone. "I think players behaviour in the Twenty20 World Cup was fantastic. The games were played in wonderful spirit. I believe that cricketers at the highest level always want to have conversation and I don't see any harm in that. "But for us, spirit of cricket is very important. I think the players are increasingly more and more aware of the need to play the game in the right spirit," he said. "I also believe the referral system that is being rolled out will improve player behaviour," he added.

England can win Ashes: Andy Flower

England coach Andy Flower believes his side have what it takes to win the Ashes and, in Andrew Strauss, the right man to captain them to glory.

The successful partnership between then coach Duncan Fletcher and skipper Michael Vaughan was a key factor in England's 2005 Ashes triumph on home soil. But since then relations between the England coach and captain have not always been so smooth.

In January, Kevin Pietersen was stripped of the captaincy after a falling out with Peter Moores that cost the now Lancashire coach his position with the England squad.

Opening batsman Strauss was thrust into the captaincy while Flower, previously Moores's assistant, took temporary charge behind the scenes.

Initially uncertain about whether he wanted to become the England team director, Flower eventually applied for the post and was appointed after overseeing a narrow 1-0 Test series loss and equally close 3-2 one-day campaign victory in the West Indies.

His first series in permanent charge saw England whitewash the West Indies, a 10-wicket first Test win at Lord's followed by an innings and 83 run victory wrapped up at the Riverside on Monday.

Flower knows England are likely to face a far tougher examination when Australia, who won the last edition of the Ashes 5-0, arrive in Cardiff for their series opener in July.

Character appears to have been the watchword regarding those young players given a Test chance under Flower, with Ravi Bopara making centuries at Lord's and the Riverside against the West Indies while pace bowler Graham Onions took 10 wickets in the two matches.

Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan also impressed with the ball and, with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff waiting in the wings as he recovers from a knee injury, Flower believes England are on track.

"I think we can win the Ashes, yes," said Flower. "We'll have to play very well and we'll have to be strong over a long period of time but, yes, I do believe we can win them."

In left-handed opener Strauss he believes England have the right man to lead them in their quest to regain the Ashes from Ricky Ponting's side.

"He's rock-solid for us as a leader. He is our front-man and I think the guys are enjoying him as a leader. I think he's strong, he's honest, he's fair, he's ambitious and I think he's got a very clear vision of what he wants from the England team," said Flower.

And Flower was keen to stress that he saw his working relationship with Strauss as being one of a genuine partnership. "I've got my own ideas and Strauss has got his ideas and we sit together and talk about it and plan together."

Bangladesh vs West Indies Tour Fixtures

UWI VC XI v Bangladeshis at Portsmouth
Jul 24 (09:30 local, 13:30 GMT)

1st ODI: West Indies v Bangladesh at Roseau
Jul 26 (09:30 local, 13:30 GMT)

2nd ODI: West Indies v Bangladesh at Roseau
Jul 28 (09:30 local, 13:30 GMT)

3rd ODI: West Indies v Bangladesh at Basseterre
Jul 31 (09:30 local, 13:30 GMT)

Only T20I: West Indies v Bangladesh at Basseterre
Aug 2 (14:00 local, 18:00 GMT)

Bangladesh clinch first overseas series win

Bangladesh claimed its first overseas Test series win when Shakib Al Hasan's fine all-round performance guided them to a four-wicket victory over West Indies in Grenada.

Al Hasan, acting skipper in the Test, struck a unbeaten 96 from 97 balls and Bangladesh, after an early scare, comfortably surpassed the target of 215 with a day to spare.

In a series blighted by the boycott from first choice West Indies players, who are in dispute with their board over contractual and payment issues, Al Hasan provided genuine Test quality with bat and ball.

The slow left-armer ended with figures of 5 for 70 as Bangladesh bowled out the weakened West Indies side for 209 in the morning session after picking up the final two wickets.

In reply, Bangladesh wobbled at 4 for 67 after fine bowling from Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy but Al Hasan and Raqibul Hasan (65) put on 106 for the fifth wicket to take the tourists close to their target.

The pair played with little sign of nerves, despite the precarious position of their team, picking off the bad balls with ease and punishing without mercy, particularly Al Hasan, whose timing was perfect.

Sammy removed Hasan with a smart caught and bowled to offer a glimmer of hope to the West Indies and he got rid of Mushfiqur Rahim in the same fashion near the end.

But Bangladesh comfortably secured just their third Test win in style when Al Hasan smashed Roach for a six to finish on 96 not out, a spectacular and emphatic end to what has been a low-key and at times poor quality Test series.