DS report: 3rd day Chittagong test

[mahbubH]

DS
Just not worth it by Al-Amin

If you are sick and tired of writing about a cricket match involving the Bangladesh cricket team against any side, a piece of advice: don't bother to file a fresh story.

All you have to do is just change the date, venue and scores of the terrible Tigers. The rest will fall into place as you just have to take the trouble of using the 'cut and paste' option on your PC. And that's enough for the day or night depending when you are filing the report.

For a confused reader this is just journalese.

This is how Bangladesh is playing the game of cricket these days. One half of the story is that the toothless Tigers bowl their hearts out and wait for the opposition to declare. Then it is the turn of the batters to come out with all their limited abilities (don't believe they are a bundle of talent!) only to surrender within a couple of hours.

One would expect that being the home side is an advantage as you are playing in known conditions and on a tailor-made pitch to suit your strengths (?!) in front of a strong local crowd. But playing at home has so far proven to be a nightmare for Bangladesh.

And then there are some common features that are at times so irritating one wonders is it worth the trouble of describing the day's events.

The same players, the same mistakes and above all the same result. You can cry out loud trying to teach them that the essence of a five-day match is all about occupation of the crease and building partnerships.

But the majority of our batsmen after giving the impression that they have understood every piece of advice go into the middle, play a couple of defensive shots and then do the unthinkable The commit suicide. So much for all the briefings and long hours in the nets!

Stand-in Bangladesh skipper Khaled Mashud before the second Test in Chittagong urged that the fans should rally behind them as the team was going through a rough patch. It worked as the knowledgeable cricket followers in the port city turned up in their thousands in response to the captain's plea.

They waved the red and green flags, beat drums all day long and cheered every run scored by the home side.

But what did they get in return? Another innings defeat.



Edited on, October 28, 2004, 6:39 PM GMT, by sports_fan_bd.