Bangladesh run to last four is reward for years of toil

MANCHESTER, England, June 13, (RTRS): Bangladesh are one win away from their first final in a major tournament but whatever the outcome of their Champions Trophy semi-final against India on Thursday, it is clear the country’s long struggle in the game is now bearing fruit.

Bangladesh qualified for this year’s eight-nation Champions Trophy, having missed out on the last two editions, thanks to their improving fortunes in the one-day game combined with the decline of West Indies cricket.

Although still viewed until recently by many as “minnows”, it should not be surprising that Bangladesh, who reached the last four thanks to an impressive win over New Zealand, are now among the elite teams in the shorter forms of the game.

The country has plenty of talent to choose from with a population of 160 million which is lower only than India and Pakistan among test-playing nations.

Cricket is the national sport and has deep roots with the Dhaka Premier League having begun in 1974, three years after the country’s bloody war of independence from Pakistan — but it

Mortaza

has been a long grind to get to their current level. “I think everyone has contributed to what we are today. The whole nation will be with us as they were in our desperate times and good times,” Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said after the victory over New Zealand.

By 1979, still dealing with many issues of post-war reconstruction, Bangladesh entered their first international tournament, the ICC Trophy in England, a tournament designed for the non-test playing nations in which they lost to Canada and Denmark.

Steady progress enabled Bangladesh to win the ICC Trophy in 1997 and two years later they played in the full World Cup where they pulled off a famous victory over Pakistan.

In 2000, the country entered cricket’s elite, becoming a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and hosting their first test match, against India in Dhaka.

The step-up in competition was tough, from 1999 to 2004 the side lost 71 of 72 completed matches, but by the mid-2000’s Bangladesh were starting to show signs of promise.

In the three-nation NatWest Series in 2005, they beat Australia at Cardiff and two years later enjoyed wins over India and South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.

Bangladesh have now claimed victories in one-day cricket against all the top nations, although their test record is poorer with just nine wins in 100 tests.

It was the first win of his career for Aquablue rider Warbasse, a former member of the now-defunct Swiss team IAM Cycling, after he found himself a minute clear of his fellow escapees with only 2.3km remaining.

AG2R La Mondiale’s Domenico Pozzovivo finished four seconds behind Caruso and Kruijswijk on the day to move third in the overall standings.

Wednesday’s 222km fifth stage from Bex to Cevio is the longest of the nine-day Tour of Switzerland, which is one of two main pre-Tour de France warm-up events, despite losing prestige compared to the Criterium du Dauphine in recent years.

While the winner of the Dauphine went on to win the Tour in four out of five years from 2012 to 2016, the last time a Swiss Tour champion also claimed Grand Boucle glory was Belgian great Eddy Merckx in 1974 — although disgraced American Lance Armstrong did that particular double in 2001 before being stripped of both results for doping. Results

Stage 1. Larry Warbasse (USA/ABS) 3hr 48min 55sec, 2. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) at 0:40, 3. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 0:40, 4. Simon Spilak (SLO/KAT) 0:40, 5. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/ALM) 0:44, 6. Mathias

Frank (SWI/ALM) 0:47, 7. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 0:59, 8. Miguel Ángel López (COL/AST) 1:07, 9. Mikel Nieve (ESP/SKY) 1:20, 10. Rui Costa (POR/EAU) 1:34

Overall 1. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 12hr 08min 35sec, 2. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/ LNL) at 0:15, 3. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/ALM) 0:24, 4. Simon Spilak (SLO/ KAT) 0:24, 5. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 0:31, 6. Mathias Frank (SWI/ALM) 0:33, 7. Mikel Nieve (ESP/SKY) 1:09, 8. Rui Costa (POR/EAU) 1:10, 9. Valerio Conti (ITA/EAU) 1:20, 10. Miguel Ángel López (COL/AST) 1:25.

LONDON:

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Britain’s first men’s International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour event will be held on July 30, when the 2017 RideLondon-Surrey Classic kicks off.

The UCI announced an expanded WorldTour calendar last August, with a total of 10 new events awarded threeyear licences to join the series in 2017, taking the peloton to 15 countries over a nine-month period.

Britain joined fellow first-timers Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and the United States on the list of countries when the RideLondon-Surrey Classic was made a WorldTour event in its fifth year of operation. The women’s race, which will be held a day earlier, became a top-tier event last year.