Bangladesh begins to bloom

Christopher O’Leary marvels at the newfound might of Bangladesh, who produced their greatest one-day international performance with victory over the mighty Australians yesterday.

I think I just had a nightmare. Picture this, I was dreaming of the horrendous day when a ragtag outfit from Bangladesh, minnows who would have a tough time of it against Canada, smashed an Australian outfit in a game of cricket.

It is impossible I said to myself in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Bangladesh was given tips by the Australians, now going on a decade as world champions, in their training sessions when they toured Darwin in 2003. Yet the number of boundaries the Tigers hit off names such as McGrath and Gillespie, the unassailable bowling attack of world cricket, woke me up to the undeniable truth.

This was not a dream. Bangladesh was going to win, and Australia was going to pay.

Commentators were standing out of their seats as the British press typed furiously away at what they were witnessing, headlines such as ‘An era has ended’ and ‘Why play for the Ashes?’ danced wickedly in their heads.

Normally blustering away with his patriotic comments, Darren Lehmann was left stunned when Aftab Ahmed sealed the deal with a six in the final over. Ahmed’s shot sent the hundreds of Bangladeshi’s across the ground into a mass hysteria, as if the match was actually a world cup final.

Meanwhile a small roar could be heard from the other side of the globe, as 150 million Bangladeshis celebrated in streets and in their homes. All of them however celebrated in front of a television screen, having just witnessed their cricketing heroes wave the country’s green and red flag to victory.

As I stared at my television in utter disbelief, a multitude of questions flew through my head at a mile a minute. For example, questions such as: ‘How could this have happened?’ ‘When did Bangladesh get so good?’ ‘Why did Australia let this happen?’ ‘Do we want to lose the Ashes?’ ‘Why the hell did we lose to Bangladesh?’

You get the drift, but even the most proudest Aussie cricket fan would admit the loss was great for the young cricket nation.

Anyone who has supported Bangladesh cricket over the years would have shed a tear today, as these people for so long have had to put up with questions over the country’s Test eligibility over other ICC associate nations.

Without his shirt on, Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore looked genuinely shocked at what he was seeing out the team’s balcony window. The tour of England has been a long and arduous conquest for his squad, so it is understandable that Whatmore had a smile beaming beneath his handlebar moustache.

Everyone who entered Cardiff’s turnstiles would not have been expecting history in the making, where precocious youths rose to the heat of battle and left old campaigners shaking their heads.

The Australian captain hardly had any fingernails left at the end, as he could hardly contain his worries in the final 10 overs. Ponting walked up to his bowlers after every ball was bowled to give more than just some words of encouragement.

Ponting talked to Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie whenever he could, either trying to slow down the match or devise another brilliant plan to get the world champions out of another brilliant mess. It was probably the latter, as the Bangladeshi’s faced each ball lacking nonsense but loaded with aggression.

Mohammad Ashraful was absolutely outstanding today at the crease, standing up against the might of the world champions with a brilliant debut century. The youngest player ever to score a Test century, Ashraful is a cricketer known for his flamboyant batting but has bucket loads of maturity to boot.

Today Ashraful was the backbone for Bangladesh throughout the innings, giving his side the stability needed to chase Australia’s total. Along with 19-year-old Ahmed, who complemented his 51 against England with today’s efforts, and Tapash Baisya’s three wickets, Bangladesh’s young but hungry squad deserved today to win against the world’s best.

Who knows? Maybe this cricket minnow is finally starting to bloom.

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