Rain threatens warm-up for Bangladesh
Saturday, May 22, 2004
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AFP): Unseasonal
showers threaten to ruin Bangladesh's only warm-up cricket match prior to
their opening Test against West Indies next week.
Bangladesh were looking for a change of
fortune in the three-day contest against a West Indies Cricket Board XI,
starting on Saturday at the Queen's Park Stadium, to give them a timely boost
ahead of higher intensity tussles.
Persistent showers on the eve of the match
have now put a prompt start and significant play in jeopardy.
This could leave the visitors short of match
practice and low on confidence, after West Indies completed a 3-0 clean sweep
in the three-match One-day Internationals series.
"I think we were very competitive in the ODI
series and there are many positive things we can take away from those
matches," Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said.
"We came close to winning one or two of the
ODIs, but we failed to take our chances. We are now looking forward to the
Test series and continuing to play competitively."
The visitors are also anxious to get some meaningful cricket to introduce tour
newcomers Javed Omar, Enamul Haque, Jr., and Alamgir Khan, who replaced Abdur
Razzak, Khaled Mahmud and Shahriar Hossain, to Caribbean conditions.
Javed is an opening batsman who, it has been
said, scores his runs too slowly. He carried his bat for 85 not out on Test
debut, becoming only the third player in history to do so in his first match.
Bangladesh will hope he will offer a
steadier hand at the top of the order in the Test series, after West Indies
blasted out the openers in the ODIs. His leg-spin bowling offer Bashar another
bowling slow bowling option which coach Dave Whatmore enunciated will be their
main weapon against the home team in the Tests.
Haque, a teenaged left-arm spin bowler,
troubled England's batsmen in their recent series late last year with his
sharp turn from a high, economical action and will also be a key component in
the spin bowling department.
Alamgir is a medium-paced bowler and was
part of the Bangladesh-A side that contested the West Indies first-class
championship two years ago with little success.
The West Indies selectors have named a
powerful squad from which the final 11 will be named for the match.
All except for opening batsman Kurt
Wilkinson have played for the senior West Indies side either in Tests or ODIs.
Sylvester Joseph, who played during the ODI
series against Bangladesh and the preceding series against England, will
captain the side that lists Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Omari Banks, Carlton
Baugh, Jr., Dave Mohammed, Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson and Wavell Hinds
as Test players.
It presents the perfect opportunity for all
of them and the other members of the squad to produce a significant
performance and sneak a place in the senior side for the four-Test series
against England in Britain.
Squads:
WICB XI (from): Sylvester Joseph (captain), Omari Banks, Carlton Baugh, Jr.,
Dwayne Bravo, Corey Collymore, Wavell Hinds, Jermaine Lawson, Dave Mohammed,
Ravi Rampaul, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Kurt Wilkinson.
Bangladesh (from): Habibul Bashar (captain), Alamgir Kabir, Alok Kapali,
Enamul Haque, Jr., Faisal Hossain, Hannan Sarkar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud,
Manjural Islam Rana, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Mushfiqur Rahman,
Rajin Saleh, Tapash Baisya, Tareq Aziz.
Umpires: Glenroy Johnson, Terrence Birbal
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