Too many ways to skin the Tiger

One can only imagine the excitement in the Bangladeshi camp last night, as they sized up the challenge that awaits them today at Lord's. But what of the England team? Let's not beat around the bush. After what has gone before in South Africa, and given what is to follow at the end of July, it would only be natural if the players lacked a certain je ne sais quoi going into this series.

Sure, there were smiles and soundbites in abundance on the eve of the match, as Michael Vaughan talked up the Bangladeshi challenge while playing down his eagerness for a three-day finish and a chance to watch Sheffield Wednesday in the play-offs at Cardiff on Sunday. But tellingly, there was none of the unspoken terror that dogged their preparations at Dhaka 19 months ago, ahead of the inaugural fixture between these teams.

Back in October 2003, the England team did not possess the same knowhow, the same swagger. Their last series had been a scrappy 2-2 draw at home to South Africa, a continuation of an all-too-familiar theme. They could not have known then that the decisive final match of that series - their Flintoff-inspired victory at The Oval - would go down as a seminal moment, rather than yet another ephemeral one.

Consequently, for the first four days of that match in Dhaka, England played like a side that did not know how to kick a team when it was down, largely because they themselves couldn't work out when they were up. By the fourth evening, Bangladesh led by 153 with four wickets standing, and it required a bout of Bangladeshi vertigo on the final morning to ensure that further embarrassment was avoided.

This time around, however, England have acquired that knowhow in spades. They have eight home Test wins in a row, dating back to that Oval victory in 2003, and they fully expect to make it a perfect ten by the time Australia arrive. And that's not an attitude driven by complacency either. In this series, as Australia are in their encounters with all opposition, England are driven by absolute certainty.

The ICC, in fact, are so confident about England's home form that they sent out a press release this week, stating that the team would be ranked as the best in the world if they achieved another magnificent seven-out-of-seven this summer. Quite apart from stating the bleeding obvious, that observation might be taking things a step too far. But, for the first two Tests of this summer, there are simply too many ways for England to skin the Tiger.

This summer's itinerary, widely and rightly condemned, has sold Bangladesh short. They were thrashed by an innings and 226 runs at a damp and inhospitable Hove; they were limited to a fraction of a final warm-up by more rain at Northampton, and despite his 18 wickets in three Test innings against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh have been obliged to omit their outstanding young spin bowler, Enamul Haque jr - for fear of the long-term damage that could be done by Andrew Flintoff and friends on an unresponsive greentop. "I am scared of the conditions," Enamul admitted on Tuesday. He is not the only one.

There will, however, be some fascinating sub-plots in this morning's opening exchanges, not least the chance to see in the flesh the diminutive 16-year-old, Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh's improbable batting star of the tour so far. Mushfiqur's youthful successes have been a metaphor for the longterm gains that Bangladesh have been striving for on this trip, and he continues a bizarre tradition of baby-faced overseas glovemen in English Test series, from Zimbabwe's Tatenda Taibu in 2000 to India's Parthiv Patel in 2002. This time, however, Mushfiqur's inclusion is as a specialist batsman - which tells its own story of his team-mate's struggles.

If that's not unsettling enough, Bangladesh are up against a side striving for self-improvement. England may currently be ranked as the second-best side in the world, but they have in their midst two players who in the not-so-distant past were considered the No. 1 batsman and bowler respectively, and who both endured a winter to forget in South Africa. Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison have plenty to prove in the coming weeks, and one senses that Bangladesh will be regretting that already.

Harmison has already promised a no-mercy approach, and given that he extracted nine wickets in his one and only Test against Bangladesh in 2003-04, one senses that his 27 wickets in four county matches this season is just a prelude to the riches to follow. But it is Vaughan's promotion to the troublesome No. 3 position that is of the greater long-term significance.

Last season, Vaughan surrendered his favoured opening berth to allow Andrew Strauss to continue his cucumber-cool arrival in international cricket, and he has been suffering for his altruism ever since. In 17 matches at No. 4, Vaughan has averaged 34.80 - a whopping 10 runs per innings below his career average - and his only two centuries came in the same, strangely overlooked, performance against West Indies.

Now however, Vaughan has advanced one significant place in the order, and regardless of the limited threat posed by Bangladesh, the statement of his intent is unmistakeable. Three winters ago, Vaughan was England's solitary shining light, as he carried the attack to Australia's bowlers in a thrillingly cavalier fashion - 633 runs in 10 innings, with three substantial centuries. Australia have not forgotten that performance, and nor has Vaughan, if his one-off performance in last year's Champions Trophy semi-final is anything to go by. His 86 that day included four fours in an over off Brett Lee, and was arguably his most complete performance since he assumed the England captaincy.

Vaughan's promotion reverses a recent tendency for international sides to hide their best players at the more closeted No. 4 spot. Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Vaughan himself have all been guilty of this pleasure in the recent past. Only Bangladesh's Habibul Bashar and, more pertinently, Australia's Ricky Ponting - who averages a masterful 65.99 at No. 3 - have put their willow where their team's wants are.

Already, Vaughan v Ponting is shaping up as the decisive tussle of the Ashes. It's unavoidable, but everything that happens to England in the coming days will be viewed through a green-and-gold lens. For that reason, maybe more than any other, Bangladesh can expect, and will receive, absolutely no mercy.