Cricket: Bangladesh ready for the unexpected

The rank outsiders for the World Cup are confident that they will make a good impression despite a troubled preparation. By Adam Szreter

EVER SINCE George Harrison sang about Bangladesh, "where so many people died in sadness" during the 1971 War of Independence, the name of the newly formed country previously known as East Pakistan has been synonymous in the west with poverty and deprivation. Now, thanks to their cricket team, one section of the outside world may just be about to adjust its perception of Bangladesh.

The poverty and deprivation is undoubtedly still there but there are small pockets of prosperity and many of those with money have chosen to invest in cricket, the new opium of the less fortunate masses.

The former East Pakistan was traditionally the football heartland of the nation, although seven Test matches were played at Dhaka prior to 1971. But gradually, after independence, cricket began to capture the imagination of the Bangladeshis more and more, and when, in 1997, Bangladesh qualified for the World Cup for the first time after beating Kenya in the final of the ICC Trophy, interest in the game soared.

They now have a professional league that is the envy of most of Asia, tempting top foreign players such as Pakistan's Wasim Akram, England's Neil Fairbrother and the Sri Lankan pair Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya; there is a 64-district national league; in Dhaka alone there are some 150 clubs competing in local leagues; and around 800 schools are actively involved in the game.

The squad that arrived in England four weeks ago to begin extensive acclimatisation is entirely professional, led by 32-year-old Aminul Islam, a stylish middle- order batsman who has played league cricket in Yorkshire and Melbourne and is a veteran of three ICC Trophy campaigns. Their manager, Tanvir Islam, was Pakistan's 12th man in the 1971 Dhaka Test against a Commonwealth XI before turning against Pakistan as a freedom fighter; now he works for one of the big private oil companies in Bangladesh.

"Cricket is booming in Bangladesh right now," their captain, more commonly known as Bulbul, said last week. "It's the No 1 sport and there's live cricket on satellite television virtually every day of the week. People can watch all their heroes from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in action."

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Bangladesh team itself has struggled to live up to the expectations it raised after winning the ICC Trophy and being accorded one-day international status. Gordon Greenidge, awarded honorary citizenship after coaching them to that victory, fell out with his employers soon afterwards, claiming he was not getting proper co-operation from the Board, and for a time it was uncertain whether the former West Indian opener would accompany them to England. He is here, but so far keeping quiet.

Furthermore, as if driven by a desire not to be outdone on the political front by their neighbours Pakistan, the entire selection panel for the World Cup were fired after a public outcry greeted the omission of the all-rounder Minhazul Abedin, since reinstated despite being accused of being something of a "rebel". Add all of that to a miserably wet first week in England and you would have to say the initial preparation of the rank outsiders was not ideal.

Nevertheless, the manager remains confident he has the right players with him. "I've got a pretty good side, especially the batting," Islam said, referring to Mehrab Hossain - who became the first Bangladeshi to make a one-day international century, against Zimbabwe in March - and his opening partner Shariar Hossain, plus the captain and his predecessor Akram Khan, two of the more experienced members of the party.

The bowling may prove to be their undoing, although in their first warm- up match against Essex on Saturday it was the spinners Enamul Haq, known as Moni, and Mohammad Raffique who won the game for them after wicketkeeper Khaled Masud had impressed with a quickfire century against a more than useful attack. As for the fielding, "it won't be as good as South Africa or Zimbabwe, but it won't be as bad as some of the others," their manager claimed.

The date they have all been looking forward to, apart from their opening game with New Zealand next Monday, is 24 May when they meet the other Group B outsiders, Scotland, in Edinburgh. It is the one they feel they can win, although Moni's ambition does not stop there. "If Kenya could beat the West Indies in the last World Cup, anything can happen, especially in England," he said. "The weather could prove to be a great help to the smaller teams."

Bulbul, though, was more circumspect. "We want to win against Scotland but obviously New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies are way ahead of us," he said. "They have more experience and better skills than us. But we can put up a good fight and show we are improving.

"In Bangladesh, there is nothing to hold on to apart from cricket and playing in the World Cup is a great privilege for us. We want to show the world we are coming up."