Flattering to deceive

During the first test against the mighty Aussies, Bangladesh came so near to creating one of the biggest upsets of recent times; they dominated the test match for close to 2.5 days, but then unfortunately, the game is played over 5 days. So that did not happen. The outcome of the second test was probably never in question but for the prospect of heavy rains that threatened every day in the afternoon.

In the end though, Bangladesh had to be content with -- which they seeemed to take reasonable pride in-- taking both test matches against the Aussies to 5 days.

There is a difference in taking positives out of a bad result in a bid to look forward versus taking being satisfied with a bad result ("It wasn't as bad as we expected it to be" kind of sentiment). Sadly, what came through in the media interviews of Habibul Bashar, the genial Bangladeshi captain was exactly that.

Anyway, the two sides have moved on to the one day games with the indelible memories of that Cardiff shocker still providing the minnows the adrenalin fix if they wanted any. Yet again, Bangladesh had their chances, but in the end it was a familiar story. Bangladesh lacked the firepower to finish Australia off --- and the champions recorded another win, which as those who saw the game will acknowledge wasn't as easy as the scorecard will show.

It is absolutely certain that the team has some good talent in their ranks-- the tiny sparks flare up occasionally to give fleeting glimpses of vast reservoirs of potential. Unfortunately, it seems that they haven't reached that tipping point when all of that potential collectively explodes into results.

I believe it took a very controversial and acrinomious tour of Australia for Sri Lanka to reach that tipping point and begin to be seriously considered in the big league. What will it take Bagladesh to make them learn to win?