Breathing space and understanding

This article is a plea not to crush Bangladesh's test match dreams and to give the side "breathing space and understanding". The author is at pains to point out that removing test status now would do untold damage to the game in Bangladesh and he is probably right. While the decision to award Bangladesh test status was, in retrospect, a terrible one - it is not a decision that can be unmade. Instead we have to knuckle down and find a way to bring the side up to test standard. There was a suggestion on this website last year that tests against Bangladesh should be restricted to three days and I still think it looks a blimmin' good idea. It will give Bangladesh an achievable target (a draw) to aim for and will force opponents to bat faster and to bowl with more aggresive fields - which will give Bangladesh a greater opportunity to take wickets and score runs. It could also produce better finishes. While the matches against England ended within three days other recent results have seen Bangladesh stumble into day four. A test match which ends at day three with one team clinging on desperately for a draw is a lot more exciting than a test match which ends in three and a half days with a horribly one-sided result.