One improvement in our team has been its ability to bowl opponents out in Test cricket which has been reflected in the scorecards with Pakistan and England (the 1st Test). I believe it is because the opponents are looking to defend, or at least they are not being aggre- ssive. However, in ODIs the batsmen are aggressive and our bowlers crumble quickly.

Then comes the batsmen, yet again in the Test matches their ultra defensive attitude works, for a while, unless Shoaib Akhter decides to say enough is enough and becomes aggressive, 301-2 to 361 all out.

All that was due to some aggression from one man? He didn't bowl any different, he didn't get ultra fast, he just bowled a little faster and the "Tigers" ran away like pussycats.

In Australia, Bangladesh put together one good innings, 290-odd and we had a good series? Please don't forget that Australia had 550+ for just 4 wickets in reply. I blame it all on presence, we have no presence out there, its like we're privileged to play in test matches or ODIs whilst forgetting we earned the right to play at that level.

How many more ODIs do we need to play before we set targets of at least 230+, instead of being pleased by just getting close to 200? How many times do we need to lose our wickets to Anderson, Flintoff etc. after, yes after, scoring fifties and hundreds against Shoaib Akhter, Brett Lee and Glenn Mcgrath. Its all in presence, we are just too small in stature and too overwhelmed by the word "big".

Now to the solution. The whole team should be sent to the gym and made to workout 3-4 times a week, in a demanding muscle and stamina building routine, and even if we cant get any taller, we'll definitely be bigger, stronger and less vulnerable. Only then the consistent 20-30s in ODIs will turn into 70-80s and even a 100.

The bats, pads, gloves look horribly oversized on our players. Maybe that's why we shy away from aggression without any resistance. For the future players too, its an ultra fit world of sports out there and just talent won't do. Bangladesh has always overlooked physical fitness. It's time to change that attitude since we've managed to reach the top 10 in one global sport.

Top and tail, the same?

Day by day, it is becoming quite impossible for the spectators and also for the critics to differentiate the top order batsmen from the tail-enders of our cricket team.

In almost every match, the top four or five batsmen scored almost nothing or a very negligible number of runs. The wickets start falling right from the beginning and the procession continues until it takes a disastrous look, like 10/ 3, 20/5, 55/7etc.

Certainly, you switch off your television because you dare not see your beloved team scoring the measly runs. After some time , when you switch on the TV with utter timidity to have a look on the score you find Bangladesh striving to make a decent (!) total like 120-150.

No wonder, it is the tail-enders' wholehearted contribution that saves the team's image again and again. The lower order batsmen are really doing a good job for the team. Their bowling has also improved and they are able to grab a couple of wickets in every match. Is there any necessity to recruit more batsmen?

Rifat Mahbub, Dhaka University