England greeted by enthusiasm and unseasonal rain

Paul Collingwood: 'If they have cricket grounds here they must be of the floating variety' © Getty Images

The late monsoon which has thwarted the Bangladesh side's attempts to get in outdoor practice for the best part of a fortnight, and has also made pitch preparation at the international venues impossible, continued to rage as England landed in Dhaka. The monsoon season officially ended in mid September, but despite the protestations of locals that it was over, the rain hammered down unrelentingly. Whether it was monsoon rain or normal rain was immaterial. It was wet and there was lots of it.

England were greeted at the airport by a throng of fans, four television crews and banks of photographers. The British deputy high commissioner was also there, and he gleefully informed the players that usually 30 per cent of Bangladesh is under water but that at the moment it might be as much as 50 per cent. Armed with this snippet, the management immediately set about a hunt for indoor practice facilities.

Paul Collingwood showed he misses little when asked for his first impressions of the country. "It's very, very wet," he said. " If they have cricket grounds here they must be of the floating variety." The forecast hardly gave any encouragement, with two more storms predicted for the Bay of Bengal, one of them possibly a hurricane.

It will be a new experience for many of the tourists. Bangladesh is one of the most overpopulated countries in the world, and one of the most polluted with clean air at a premium in the bigger towns. The squad has its own doctor with them just in case.

The signs are that the inaugural Test which starts on October 21 will be a sell-out, such is the level of interest and enthusiasm which has resulted from Bangladesh's improving performances in Australia and Pakistan. The poor weather will mean that both sides will be under prepared, but that will disadvantage England more as they have not played on what are the usually very slow wickets before. If the rain does stop, it could be an interesting few weeks.