Cricket: Time to make a Bangla-dash and get into real cricket

By MARK RICHARDSON

It is time to get the hell out of Bangladesh. You can only maintain your standards for so long. Watching the second one-dayer between the Black Caps and Bangladesh we are right back at club level.

Sure, we will win every game, either easily or in last night's case with a little more apprehension, but what does it all mean? Not much when you look at the ever-decreasing enthusiasm our boys are showing at the conclusion of each game.

The celebratory handshake has become a meaningless formality, and anti-climax at the end of the test series was such that I even flagged the very important foot race, one I could have won given my length-of-stride advantage over the opposition. What can we gather from this series?

Very little.

There are some in the cricket fraternity, generally the vocal few, who like to draw conclusions from one or two performances. However, anyone who understands cricket knows it is a game able to be judged over an extended period only. But be assured that upon landing in Australia our lads are in for one hell of a slap in the face.

Your time in the middle against two dribbly seamers and three left-arm spinners will mean spit against four quicks and a leggy, and average bowling will not bag you four wickets for bugger all.

The only way you can view this Bangladesh series is as the launching pad into a challenging summer of cricket, made only more challenging by the lack of quality of the launching pad.

Sure it has been cricket and time in the middle for some, but what sort of time?

In my opinion it has been an exercise only in playing left-arm spin. For the bowlers it has been little more than exercise.

I concede that to be a successful test cricketer you must be able to adapt to all situations but at this extreme I fail to see the benefit.

With the benefit of hindsight, if I was going back to Bangladesh I'd spend all my time in the nets prior to touring facing left-arm spinners.

For those who have scored runs or taken wickets there will be the satisfying feeling of having boosted the averages, but I doubt how many will feel they have gained much as a cricketer.

For those who had a leaner time it is important not to read too much into it.

Bank any information for skills improvement and be glad to be moving on.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the boys are itching to get on the plane to Oz.

The games have become a formality and in Bangladesh there ain't much else to do but play cricket or sit in your hotel room.

Thank God for the thriving DVD piracy trade on the subcontinent is about all I can say.

Two tests and three one-dayers almost complete, but the international season doesn't really start until the New South Wales first-class game in Sydney on November 11, rather than these inappropriate training games.

If this all sounds a bit like waffle, well boo-yar to you, Sherlock, because that is just what this series has been: waffle.

And don't even get me started on the TV commentary!