England v Bangladesh: 2nd Test Preview - Time to Break the Final Test Hoodoo

 

England v Bangladesh: 2^nd Test Preview

Time to Break the Final Test Hoodoo

October 27^th 2016

The last time that England won the final Test of a series was against India in 2014. Since then, with the single exception of this spring’s final Test against Sri Lanka, England have lost six of seven final Tests and seven of the last nine.

It is not a comforting statistic.

Series that should have been won have been tied. Series that could have been tied have been lost.

And now England affront another final Test with the series in the balance: win and England keep their winning record against Bangladesh and move into 3^rd place above Australia in the ICC Test rankings; lose and the series is only shared, there is a hefty loss of ranking points and England will face India in the worst possible frame of mind.

After the narrow win in the 1^st Test, Ansari comes in for Batty and Finn for Broad. Both are risky changes. Batty gave control, if limited threat and Broad’s burst on the penultimate evening set up the win, pulling the rug from underneath the Bangladesh charge to victory. In exchange, we have a Test debutant in Ansari and a bowler who, when he gets it right, is capable of devastating spells but, when the biorhythms are wrong, has the control of a paint spray, but none of its accuracy.

Unless it goes to Moeen Ali (and Alistair Cook obviously does not trust him to deliver), Finn will take the new ball with Woakes. The Bangladesh openers are in fine form and if Finn gets it wrong, could make a jet-propelled start. However, Bangladesh is where Steve Finn suddenly broke through in 2009: spotted in the nets in the UAE, where he could not get into the Lions XI, he went straight from being an unwanted net bowler for the shadow side, into the Test XI. England will hope that Steve Finn re-captures that spirit.

Similarly, there is method behind the selection of Zafar Ansari. He did not have a great season after a second injury halted his return to the Surrey side, but he turns the ball from leg to off at a decent pace, offers a different line and is likely to be a better foil for Moeen Ali than either Adil Rashid or Gareth Batty.

The Bangladeshi’s say that they do not know how the pitch will play, but it will be a major surprise if it does not offer big turn from the first morning. The joker in the pack though is the typhoon in the Bay of Bengal that could cause a significant amount of play to be lost.

England have the weapons to win, but it is all too easy to see how it could go horribly wrong. If Bangladesh were to win the Toss and score 400, as they are quite capable of doing, it would require a heroic effort by England (and probably some help from rain) even to secure the draw.