It takes time: Ashraful

FEELING ASHAMED! Dejected Bangladesh cricketers watch the South Africans (not in picture) party during the presentation ceremony after the end of the second and final Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday. PHOTO: ZOBAER HOSSAIN SIKDER

It was another wonderful day for cricket with brilliant sunshine and pleasant weather in the port city. The fog hovered in the early morning hours but the sun came to light once the fourth day's proceedings started at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday.
But there was little left in the match for any cricket lover when Bangladesh resumed their second innings with 54 for five on the board, still requiring 271 runs to salvage themselves from a humiliating innings defeat.
There was actually a formality to be completed in the morning which South Africa did in little over an hour to secure a massive innings and 205-run victory to clinch the series 2-0. Nothing could have been more frustrating than to be a part of such an event which was nothing new in the Tigers' eight-year history of Test cricket.
What in fact remains on such a day was nothing but to delve into the same old questions: Why is the same thing happening time and again and when will the Tigers, especially batsmen, learn from their mistakes to make themselves competitive in the highest level of the game?
Unfortunately if watching the 63-minute action was a painful experience then it was more frustrating to hear Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful in the marathon post-match briefing where he appeared as a completely 'confused' man.
On one hand the ace batsman admitted that they were not good enough to sustain in this level right at the moment and again he claimed that they have the ability to handle a team like South Africa, especially their fiery bowling. He actually portrayed the helpless picture of Bangladesh cricket.
“It looks easy from the outside but out in the middle it's really tough to handle this kind of bowling. Everybody should understand that we never faced 145kph bowling in our domestic competitions. Actually we are still not comfortable against quality bowling,” he explained.
"But it was not our best possible result what we did here. We have the ability and talent to do much better result, But we couldn't do justice to that,” he contradicted.
Then where lies the problem?. Is it a psychological problem? And how can we brought out from the vicious circle of the same old failure. Ashraful's simple answer was: “It takes time”. But the question was how long?
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons however believe that they can improve only if they faced quality teams like South Africa more often.
“We saw very good cricket from South Africa. Steyn (Dale) was too fast, too good and our players need to be exposed to that type of bowling more often, if we expect them to perform against 145km, swinging, aggressive bowling. We need to practice more often and expose them to it more often. I am sure they will get better,” he hoped.
“Its not the pace of the wicket, it was actually the speed of the ball. Wickets have nothing to do with it. That's a flat wicket. Even if a ball come to 120, 130kph speed, you batsmen are still overawed and play the silly shots. We have got to address the issue. There is not too many players around with 150kph speed and Dale Steyn is one who basically destroyed us,” he added.
“I have definitely seen some improvement in the way we went for our business. We pushed them in the first Test, we were only five wickets away from winning a Test match against South Africa, which is pretty good. Still we are playing some silly shots outside the off-stump and I think that is the only area that we are really lacking,” he added.
“Players don't get exposed in our national league, in our premier league. You guys have seen how we are training at the moment. You have got to give them some time,” he said.