Centurion Mazid lets his runs do the talking

It remains to be seen whether Abdul Mazid, the latest Bangladesh batsman to make a century against an England touring side, will follow the colourful example of the last two men to do so, in 2003 and 2010. But, unlike Nafees Iqbal and Raqibul Hasan, this time he seems content to have let his runs do the talking.

On this very day in 2003, at the BKSP ground in Savar, Nafees Iqbal cracked 118 in the first innings of England's opening tour match, then had the temerity to dismiss England's spinners as "ordinary".

Nafees, still a year away from making his Test debut back then, was Bangladesh's up-and-coming star of the day who bore a lot of hope in their early days as a Full Member nation. In the end, however, he played only 11 Tests and 16 ODIs before passing the mantle to his younger brother - Tamim Iqbal.

Funnily enough, one of the spinners whom Nafees had taken to task back then was back on parade today. Gareth Batty picked up two wickets today to further his claim for a Test recall after an absence of more than 11 years, but not before Mazid had thumped for two fours and a six in his innings of 106.

When England returned for their second full tour to Bangladesh, the centurion in one of the warm-up matches, Raqibul, did the unthinkable by announcing his retirement from international cricket at the age of 23. This came as an angry reaction to being overlooked for the 2010 World T20 preliminary squad. After scoring the hundred, he left Chittagong in a fury, bewildering team-mates, coach and the BCB high-ups.

His retirement angered the then-captain Shakib Al Hasan although coach Jamie Siddons sympathised with Raqibul. But the BCB terminated his contract even though he had returned from retirement a week later. He went on to play only two more Tests, and has been out of favour with the senior side for the last five years.

Mazid, meanwhile, is neither a teenage sensation like Nafees was in 2003 nor a regular Test player like Raqibul in 2010. He is a 25-year old opener who is a consistent performer in domestic cricket over the last five years.

His only taste of representative cricket was for Bangladesh A in the Caribbean in 2014, but that tour was a mini-disaster as he struggled against genuine pace. But in the intervening two years, he has improved measurably although England's quicks still caused him some discomfort today when they pitched it short.

But for the rest of Sunday morning, Mazid dominated an England attack including Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Steven Finn with 106 off 95 balls that had 16 boundaries and a six. He had reached 92 in the first session before cramps kept him in the dressing room until late in the day when he returned and reached three figures off 90 balls. Mazid's end came when he swung across the line in the 66th over.

Mazid will consider himself unlucky to be in form at a time when the competition for Bangladesh opener's slots are stiff in all three formats. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes will be opening against England in the Test series, with the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shahriar Nafees and Imtiaz Hossain also in the frame.

But Mazid was a delight to watch at the MA Aziz Stadium, much like Nafees and Raqibul but without their frills.