Bangladesh prepare to launch their campaign

Bangladesh have arrived for their maiden tour of England. The team landed at Heathrow Airport in the early hours of Saturday morning, and after a stopover in London they have travelled up to Cambridge where, tomorrow, they launch their campaign with a three-day fixture against British Universities.

It is the start of one of the most widely overlooked Test tours in history. England's sole focus is on the first Test against Australia on July 21, but for the Bangladeshis themselves, this is by some distance the biggest moment of their fledging Test careers. Consequently, for their coach, Dav Whatmore, it is the experience on offer, and not the results, that is of greater importance when the playing gets underway.

"Success or otherwise is certainly not measured in the scoreline," Whatmore told journalists at Fenner's, as his team continued their acclimatisation process. "It is measured in other areas. Essentially we want to show progress and push the opposition as hard as we can, and there will be objectives both for individuals and the team as well."

Bangladesh have played 36 Tests to date, and given that they have won just once, and lost on 31 occasions - 20 by an innings - Whatmore has understandably set his sights low. "Playing on the fifth day of Test matches is very much an objective," he added. "Being the underdogs is a reality. It is a huge challenge but along the way we have already managed to have some good times. That is probably the best tonic you can get as a coach with a developing team."

The steelier side to Bangladesh's cricket has been on display since Whatmore came on board in 2003. They performably creditably in Australia, gave Pakistan and England several moments of discomfort, and then finally achieved their maiden Test victory in January this year, when they beat Zimbabwe in Chittagong. Soon afterwards, they came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a tense five-match one-day series against the same opponents.

"Our team is just realising the opposition is the same as us, with two arms and two legs," said Whatmore, who added that they were looking forward to taking on some familiar faces from England's inaugural series in October 2003. "These conditions are totally different, but it is always nice to play against an opposition you have played before to judge yourselves."

"We have three or four players who in time will be stars," emphasised Whatmore. "That is the big difference between the two teams now. Other teams already have big match-winning stars but we are still in the process of creating those."

With an average age of 22, the chances are that Bangladesh will become a force to be reckoned with within the next five years. For the time being, however, they have a chance to test their skills against a team of a similar age-group. Their opening fixture, against British Universities, ought to be an evenly matched contest, with the Universities side being captained by the young Essex batsman, Mark Pettini.