When Dav Whatmore took over as Bangladesh's coach in 2003, one of his first tasks was to locate a spinner to partner the effective but ageing Mohammad Rafique. And he seems to have found one in Enamul Haque junior. He was born in the hill country of Sylhet, on the eastern border, and there was some confusion about his age when he was selected for the Board President's XI in the opening match of England's 2003-04 tour: he was supposedly 16, although most people had him pegged as two years older than that. But that was nothing compared to the confusion he caused England's batsmen. In a giddy spell on the second afternoon, England lost four wickets for no runs, including three to Enamul. It propelled him straight into the inaugural Test the following week, where, in tandem with Rafique, he bowled with skill and impressive composure to embarrass England's batsmen again. Enamul gives the ball a big rip from a high, economical action, and looks set to be a fixture in the squad for some time. He took 6 for 45 - and the historic final wicket - to send the country wild with an inaugural Test victory over Zimbabwe in January 2005, then added 7 for 95 (and 12 in the match) in the drawn second Test. He was kept out of the firing line in England later that year, but bounced back to play a part as Bangladesh nearly embarrassed Australia in the first Test of their 2006 tour. He had a short stint with Maharashtra in the 2008-09 Ranji season before being recalled to the Test side, after nearly a year.
Andrew Miller (January 2009)