Are Bangladesh really progressing?

After their hugely encouraging wins over India and South Africa in the Caribbean, the feeling was that Bangladesh were finally turning the corner. Yet, in their last two Tests, they have lost by an innings and over 200 runs, claiming nine wickets for 1187 runs. Even in this age of ubiquitous “positives”, it is hard to see any encouraging signs amidst such cricketing slaughters.

As a one-day side, Bangladesh have enough flair in their batting and discipline in their bowling to be a competitive side; when players like Mohammad Ashraful or Mashrafe Mortaza are on form, they are perfectly capable of causing upsets, as illustrated in the World Cup.

But, in the Test arena, their batsmen, infuriatingly, seem incapable of playing with any discipline. Their woes are encapsulated by their precious 22-year-old skipper Ashraful, outrageously gifted but unable to bat for the long periods of time necessary to build Test innings; despite his apparent emergence after an excellent World Cup, he remains far too inconsistent and prone to losing concentration.

Their bowling was impressive in the West Indies, with Mortaza providing the penetration – as when taking four wickets against India - and their quartet of left-armers, including three left-arm spinners, proving very difficult to score quickly off on the generally slow wickets. Since then, they have played on slow wickets, in India and Sri Lanka, but, in Test match cricket, their bowlers, Mortaza sometimes excepted, very rarely bowl wicket-taking deliveries and runs are picked off with depressing ease.

In short, for all the hype surrounding their ODI performances which are, undeniably, on an upward curve, Bangladesh have shown virtually no improvement after seven years of Test cricket. They continue to be beaten mercilessly, providing such weak opposition that batting and bowling averages are devalued. They have a young team, yes but, considering all the investment in the game over the last decade, their lack of Test progress is a disgrace. Whether they are gaining more from regular Test thrashings then they would from regular games against A sides, mixed with ODIs and occasional Tests, however, is surely very doubtful.

Preview: England vs Bangladesh

The first in a run of three massive games for England takes place today in Barbados. It really is do or die for England and given the same situation in the recent CB series, they were able to raise their game. Standing in their way first up is Bangladesh. Rewind to the last time England played Bangladesh in 2005 and this match would have been all but a forgone conclusion. Now it is far from it and that is a credit to Bangladesh, who are developing into a side that is fully equipped to compete at this level.

Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, and Saqibul Hasan will be confident that they can restrict England to a below par total, especially if they can get Andrew Flintoff in against them early. However, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood are fine players of spin and they will be looking to take advantage of the lack of variety within the spin bowling attack, all three are of course slow left arm bowlers.

Bangladesh's youthful and excuberant batsmen are mostly solid hitters of a cricket ball and Michael Vaughan will be very worried at the prospect of the likes of Tamim, Aftab and Ashraful getting stuck into the likes of Sajid Mahmood, who has done little to justify his selection so far. England need to raise their game for this one, because Bangladesh are confident, though past history has shown that the Bangladeshis are at their least threatening when they are confident.

Prediction: Time for England to pick it up. Bangladesh's overconfidence could prove their undoing as in the past.

Players to watch: Andrew Strauss and Mohammad Ashraful.

Sublime Ashraful confirms Bangladesh's emergence

Mohammad Ashraful has rather personified Bangladesh: capable of fleeting brilliance, as when hitting a sublime Test century off Murali – at 17 - or scoring a ODI century against Australia, his batting has too often been characterised by injudicious stroke play. For all his palpable talent, he averages only in the low-20s in both forms of international cricket.

But against South Africa, he played with refreshing selectivity and intelligence to rebuild an innings that had collapsed to 84/4. His penchant for the spectacular has never been in doubt; but he first consolidated with Aftab Ahmed, then played second fiddle in a mature manner. Only when Ahmed was out did Ashraful launch his onslaught.

And what an onslaught it was. Ashraful accelerated in thrilling style, playing outrageous shots, and regularly flicking the ball over short fine leg. It is an extraordinary shot but clearly works for him. Amazingly, Ashraful, one of the most experienced players in the side, remains just 22. He must remember this thrilling but wonderfully well-paced innings, and use it as the template for future knocks. If he is to do so, he will become one of the most exhilarating batsmen on the world stage.

In beating their second major side of the tournament, Bangladesh have proved they have developed immeasurably in recent years, and should now be considered closer to the eight established nations than the minnows. They are a vivacious side who possess a number of batting prodigies, a fine pace bowler in Mashrafe Mortaza and a number of international-class left-arm spinners; spin accounted for six South African wickets.

But it is the incredible youth of the side that really excites. They clearly have the exuberance and raw talent to become established international players – as maturity brings improved powers of concentration, this should apply to Test cricket too.