Playing Russian roulette

Less than 24 hours have passed since Concorde touched down for the very last time. Happily for British self-esteem, the nation's cricketers have avoided an equally humbling bellyflop. To give them their due, England saved their best for last, and dismissed Bangladesh's heroic challenge with a clinical efficiency this morning. But it was all a little too close for comfort.

Playing Bangladesh these days is rather like a game of Russian roulette. They are a loaded gun, with players who are likely to fire the odd blank here and there. But some team, sometime, is going to come a cropper in the not-too-distant future, and England will be desperately hoping it is not their name on the bullet, at Chittagong next week.

In all probability, England will leave the country with their record intact, but the second Test promises to be another fraught affair. They have now had a good look at all the Bangladeshi players - a closer inspection than they might have bargained for - and by the time they arrive at Chittagong, they are sure to have fine-tuned their gameplans, and stripped their selection of all sentiment.

One change that seems inevitable, given the success of Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, is the addition of an extra seamer, probably Richard Johnson. Ashley Giles should be the man to make way. He had been expected to be England's frontline spinner this winter, but was sadly ineffective in this match, although his probing, patient style played right into the hands of a side whose primary instinct was defence. Against the pugnacious Sri Lankans later this winter, he will once again be a key factor.

With Johnson (or conceivably Martin Saggers) in the side, there is less need for Rikki Clarke to play the makeshift allrounder at No. 6. This is just as well, given that he is facing a one-match ban for his altercation with Mushfiqur Rahman on Friday evening. Although, match referees permitting, he may yet earn a reprieve for the simple reason that Paul Collingwood has faced just three balls all tour.

For the Bangladeshis, it is another defeat to add to their ever-mounting pile - 24 from 25 Tests, in fact. But it is time to draw a line under their former selves. They have proved here, and in Pakistan and Australia in the past four months, that they are a rising force in world cricket - and that is a fact that deserves to be celebrated.