One had nearly missed this contest..Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Test series beginning next week is a sobering reminder of what Test cricket once was.Low intensity professional sport with some amateurs thrown in.Though most countries have t20 leagues and it would be hard to find a batsman of the calibre of William Porterfield of Ireland, who made a remarkable season opening century, albeit in Abu Dhabi, this series will be more of a contest than Australia- India series that concluded recently.. It is an indication of the times that the customary Champions County vs MCC match is played not at Lord's but at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Those of us who were cribbing about the IPL not being quite cricket, this series should come as a balm.The competition between not the bottom teams but actually between teams ranked nine and ten and with several teams from Dublin to Kabul wishing to be where they are.It is therefore a full fledged Test series and the fact that in this global consumer age 150 million Bangladeshis matter with their 300 million eye balls, this series is a mainstream event surely with more people seriously interested in it than in the fortunes of the Pune Warriors.Tigers are the team to follow in April before Newzealand arrives in England.
2 comments:
Even as the series got to a scrappy but slow start, the competitiveness at the bottom of the pile is evident.In Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe has a decent batsman.But when one looks at Bangladesh with Rahim, Shakib, Asraful and Tamim, hope sinks.
Zimbabwe have shown that it is still a decent cricketing country.
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