A breath of fresh air

And it is the breath of fresh air that motivates me to venture out of the dreary tracks of politics and security, on something so refreshing and mentally invigorating as our victory against the Aussies at the Sofia Gardens on Saturday. Not even the pounding we got from the Englishmen on Tuesday can dilute the Cardiff performance.

It was a performance that verged on the unbelievable, shocking to only the pessimists but a welcome surprise to those who nourished a bright future of our cricket in their hearts, yet hesitant to express, given the run of poor performance of our team. What was most noticeable was the professional elan with which the team went about their business, for a change, and what surprised all, according to an Australian commentator was, "the relative ease world cricket's least-equipped batting line-up chased down a total of 250." Against the best-equipped bowling line-up in the world, one might add.

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Many considered Bangladesh cricket all but dead, its epitaph was in the process of being written, to be inscribed on the headstones that the critics and detractors of our cricket were busy carving. Not many people at home (of course with some honourable exceptions) put much hope, either in the capability or in the future of our cricket. It is surprising to see the change of mood at home following the win against Australia, which was in marked contrast to what was being said only few days ago, flaying the team for the dismal results in the recent England tour. It was amusing to see our media going utterly overboard, and no body can grudge or blame them, following the victory against Australia, heaping praises on a team they were not willing to bet their money on even the previous day. Victory has many fathers indeed!

And not very long ago, the British press, in their usual imperious manner, suggested that it was waste of time for a cricket team like Bangladesh, that hardly can account for a second string English county side, to be afforded the time and space of an English summer, whose character as well as duration remains as unpredictable as the performance of our cricket team.

The win was no fluke, seeing the way the Bangladesh cricketers played, even the most zealous Aussie supporter would have to concede the fact that his team was totally outplayed by the Bangladeshi lads. One cannot help but recall a most cynical and insidious comment made by an Australian cricketer during our last visit there. He was not prepared to credit the Bangladesh team with the ability to survive more than a day in the test matches, and suggested that the Australians wrap up the game in a day and take the rest four days off as unscheduled holiday. We did better than what was predicted and drew the admiration of the locals. Regrettably the gentleman was not alive to see his team being outplayed in all departments of the game on Saturday.

We hope that our performance in Cardiff will be enough to shut once and for all the mouths of the critics, some of who were given to speak once too often and out of turn. One often wonders why is it that some the very reputable cricketers were after our membership of the ICC, rather than helping us graduate from the level that they were once in, to the level that they are in now? Perhaps the person writing to The Daily Star not long ago had hit the nail on the head. It is the fear of the prospect of defeat of their teams in our hands that may be compelling them to call for our suspension. There is much merit in his rationale, eminently demonstrated by the sheepish grin on the face of one Mr. Warne, a virulent critic of Bangladesh cricket, when asked by a TV commentator for his comments on the Bangladesh-Australia result.

But today we shall not waste our time on the critics and detractors but speak of how vindicated those whose confidence in the team's ability was unwavering, and, in spite of all the adverse situation, persisted with their efforts that resulted in the Cardiff victory. Just stop and ponder for a second! We have the scalp of three major teams in one-day cricket to boast about.

It is time to thank those that helped us to endure the difficult period. They must feel as much vindicated as those in Bangladesh who thought that it was a matter of time before we redeemed ourselves from the morass that the initial years of international cricket cast us in, inevitably. We wanted too much and too quickly of our cricketers, some of whom were indeed very raw.

For the cricketers the win has made their future task more difficult because expectations have been raised. But we all must be patient. We are as yet not fully up to the standards of the top rung teams. No doubt, given the time we will come up to their level. But we know that the top teams can be beaten. And this confidence must motivate our players in the future matches to make winning a habit rather than an exception.

Not very long ago we used to lose with all the teams. Recently we are beating some of the teams. It would not be very long, we hope, that we would be beating all the cricketing teams, and more often, though may not be always.

That is what we look forward to.

Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan is Editor, Defense and Strategic Affairs, the Daily Star