Warm-up matches, say players and coaches, are for getting miles in legs, adapting to local climes, choosing a team and forming a plan for that XI. If this is the criteria, then England’s three days – it was supposed to be four, but for a soggy outfield – at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong can be filed under “successes”.
The most important selection headache was solved as Alastair Cook hopped off a plane at Chittagong Airport on Monday afternoon, back in time for his 134th Test match, which will make him England’s most-capped player, overtaking Alec Stewart. The plan for Cook, to head home for the birth of his second child, could hardly have gone better. On Tuesday, as the rest of the squad enjoy a day on the golf course or by the pool, Cook will head to the nets; he felt in fine fettle on his week-long jaunt to Bangladesh during the ODI series, and two days’ training should be adequate for a man of his experience.
What of the other ten players, then? Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett, the candidates to open with Cook, had fine weekends, each living up to their billing. After scoring his third and fourth half-centuries and not being dismissed across 164 deliveries, Duckett will surely debut, but Hameed’s efforts mean it will likely be from No.4.
The sight of Gary Ballance wandering out after tea, only when Hameed’s 125-ball 57 had been retired, seemed to confirm there was a vacancy in the middle order. Ballance was another to go unbeaten over the two innings – with 27 then 36 – but he lacked comfort or fluency. Jos Buttler’s chances seem to be over for now (he made 4, including a dropped catch, before slicing to point), although it would be a great surprise if he does not play at some stage during the seven Tests before Christmas; Trevor Bayliss, England’s coach, remains desperate to get him in.
Perhaps the most heartening aspect of Duckett’s performances was that he displayed various gears. Sure, Saturday’s innings was a mighty impressive display of dash and timing, but on Monday, he dug in; his first 25 runs took 70 balls before he scored 27 off his next 21. The unorthodoxy displayed during the ODI series – when he was not at his most fluent, but battled hard – was back, with reverse sweeps and peculiar scoring areas. By lunch on Monday, Bayliss had seen enough, even if the birthday boy (22 today) wanted to bat on.
Hameed conformed to type. His forward defensive is an oft-seen, elegant lunge, with the ball seldom failing to connect with his bat’s middle. He leaves as much as he can, off seam and spin, but does have boundary options, seen most notably when he sent three consecutive deliveries from Ebadat Hossain for four with a straight drive, a late cut, then a pull.
For all the Boycott talk, Bangladesh’s bowling coach Courtney Walsh thinks he resembles Mike Atherton, but his team-mates are reminded of Joe Root in India in 2012 – boyish, skinny (and running plenty of twos as a result) but ready. He had his moments of discomfort, not least against the short ball when Taskin Ahmed struck him on the helmet and the arm, but crucially he battled through. A debut surely awaits.
Root will bat at No 3, with the moveable feast of allrounders Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow between No.5 and No.7; it is unclear in which order they will appear, but all three have plenty of responsibility in the field, so it may be fluid. Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid, who was kept under wraps here, will follow, with Gareth Batty likely to beat Zafar Ansari to the third spinner’s position, and Stuart Broad batting at No.11. All eleven players will have first-class hundreds.
England learnt just as much in the field, and improved markedly as the bowlers located their rhythm and acclimatised to the searing heat on a flat pitch. There were two dropped catches in 44 overs on Saturday, but none in 75 on Sunday, while Root will have plenty to feed back to Cook about field placings. Both Bairstow and Buttler have had a go behind the stumps, and three short legs have been trialled too, but Hameed seems the favoured option.
Certainly, all-out attack with the new ball – which did not swing much for Woakes – seems unlikely, and Root soon had close catchers in front of the bat instead of a packed cordon. The lack of swing, coupled with the morning session hosting the most brutal heat of the day, may see a defensive approach early on. While reverse was not found here – perhaps because the outfield was more vegetable patch than lawn and the pitch was flat and unabrasive – England expect to find it at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Finn all but confirmed the plan to use three seamers (of which he does not think he will be one) and three spinners – pending a pitch inspection on Wednesday, of course. But the last lesson England learned here came from Bangladesh themselves: by including in their 14-man squad four specialist spinners and just two seamers – who may not even both play – the tourists know precisely the challenge ahead.
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