Pride Comes To A Nasty Fall
It’s been a rocky start for Australia and a very ironic one at that – what with the measure of unadulterated snob previously having been bestowed by Australia on “lesser” countries. We’re talking of Day 2 of the First Test in Dhaka – with Australia wobbling in the face of Bangladesh, to put it mildly.
This is the very first time that Bangladesh has ventured into the home-advantage sphere, as a Test Nation in any event. And it certainly seems to be paying off.
Putting A New Spin On Things
Some would argue that the secret to Bangladesh’s success lies with their three world-class spinners – two left-arm spinners and an off-spinner. And we think that some would be absolutely right. Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan have ushered in a new era for Cricket in Bangladesh. Knowing full well how to accurately control the degree of the spin that they impart – they gave Australia a true run for their money on Day 2.
The Bangladesh advantage did not happen for a lack of scrapping and fighting on the part of Australia, either. Yet, despite having resisted the spin bombardment imparted on them with absolute gusto, the hosts remain at the helm after Day 2.
After having lugged out the 84 magic on Day 1, Shakib Al Hasan repeated more of the same on Day 2, claiming a 16th career five-wicket haul. What this translates to is that Hasan now has fivers against every other test playing nation.
Cricket Australia Vs The Players
Not even considering the recent wage spats and other horror stories filling the pages of the Great Australian Cricket Novel, it’s always been a matter of the organisation vs. the people. It certainly seems the natural thing to do to expect the players to share the sentiments of their country (read: CA), but recent events have proved otherwise.
Consider the preparation trip ahead of Australia’s India trip in February of this year. The squad were sent for a fortnight’s worth of training at the ICC’s facilities in Dubai. Each player, when interviewed after the fact, had only lavish words of praise for their time spent in the Emirates. Not a hint of snob to be found anywhere.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland conceded, stating rather coyly and in a loaded fashion that coming to that part of the world would be hard to avoid in future.
An interesting choice of words indeed.
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