Losses raise concern over Bangladesh status

Bangladesh's heavy defeat by Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship on Saturday -- their fifth reverse in as many matches -- will have raised further doubts over the wisdom of their Test status.

The 10th and newest arrivals on the Test scene were humbled by an innings and 137 runs in Colombo, meaning they have now lost each of their first five Tests by significant margins.

Bangladesh gained their Test status from the International Cricket Council (ICC) last year and tumbled to defeat in their opening three matches, against India last November and twice against lowly Zimbabwe in April.

They lost to India on their debut in Dhaka by nine wickets and then by an innings and 32 runs and by eight wickets respectively on tour in Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh coach Trevor Chappell immediately set his sights on his charges making 250 runs or more in each innings with matches against the might of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship to follow.

But it was not to be as the Asian minnows crashed to the sixth heaviest Test defeat of all time, losing by an innings and 264 runs to Pakistan in Multan last month.

Pakistan lost only three wickets in totalling 546 in that match to rub more salt into Bangladeshi wounds, as no Test nation has lost so few wickets in winning by such a massive margin.

Then came Bangladesh's fifth Test defeat in Colombo over the weekend, and even that came with added humiliation.

SETTING PRECEDENT

Sri Lanka lost only five wickets in achieving their one-sided victory, with two of their batsmen setting a precedent in Test cricket by retiring out after hitting 200 and 150 respectively.

Even so, there was a solitary ray of hope for Bangladesh with the remarkable century on debut by the 17-year-old Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful became the youngest Test centurion in the history of the game at the age of 17 years and 63 days. Suggestions that his genuine date of birth might in fact be even later would make him just 16 and 364 days.

Whichever date is right, the youthful Bangladeshi has eclipsed the previous record held by Pakistan's Mushtaq Mohammad, who was 17 years and 81 days when he reached three figures against India in Delhi during the 1960-1961 season.

While Bangladesh can only hope to arrest their losing start to Test match cricket, they can take some comfort from the fact that South Africa before them experienced an even worse baptism on cricket's biggest stage.

South Africa played their first Test against England in Port Elizabeth in March 1889 and, after losing that match by eight wickets, proceeded to surrender their next seven Tests in a row before drawing with Australia in Johannesburg in 1902-03.

Some would argue, though, that matches in those days were generally played against touring teams of English club and county players and the only people who really considered them as "tests" were the statisticians.

As for the eight other Test countries, their respective debuts never plunged as low as either South Africa or Bangladesh with regard to losing streaks.

SHRUGGED OFF

Australia made their Test debut against England in Melbourne in 1876-77 and promptly won. England, however, managed to shrug off that setback in what was also their very first Test by winning the second match of that series in Melbourne just two weeks later.

West Indies lost by an innings on their Test debut to England at Lord's in 1928 but managed to taste victory in their sixth outing the following year when they beat the same opponents in Georgetown by 289 runs.

New Zealand began their Test career with a defeat and three draws in their home series with England in 1929-30 but they had to wait through 42 matches before registering their first triumph against West Indies in Auckland during 1955-56.

India lost their Test opener to England by 158 runs at Lord's in 1932 and, like New Zealand, had to be extremely patient before securing their maiden Test win against a weakened England side in Madras during 1951-52.

That success came 24 games and almost 20 years after they first cut their Test teeth at Lord's.

Pakistan lost on their Test debut, by an innings to India in Delhi during 1952-53, but they managed to hit back with an innings triumph of their own in the Test which followed in Lucknow one week later.

Sri Lanka were beaten in their first two Tests, by England and Pakistan, in 1981-82 before drawing their third with Pakistan but their maiden victory came only 11 games later when they beat India by 149 runs during 1985-86.

Zimbabwe, the ninth additions to the Test match fraternity, drew their debut match with India in Harare during 1992-93 after making 456 in their first innings, the highest total by any debutant country.

Their first Test win came in their 11th outing less than three years later when they beat Pakistan by an innings and 64 runs in Harare during 1994-95, although this victory has subsequently been tarnished by murmurings of match-fixing.

Bangladesh, over the next few months, will almost certainly play Test matches with more frequency than New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe managed to do during their infant days in the Test ranks.

Their Achilles' heel so far has been their bowling, and especially their paucity of quality seamers.

But at least they have a little leeway -- three more Test matches to be precise -- before they match South Africa's dismal start to Test match cricket.

Mail Cricket Editor