11 years after his last one
After an 11-year wait Gareth’s vital wicket gives England hope
ENGLAND spinner Gareth Batty shows his delight after taking a wicket against Bangladesh yesterday in his first Test for 11 years. The 39-year-old said: ‘It is an amazing feeling. I don’t think I’ve felt like that in my career. When you’re just an average player you enjoy every bit of success.’
AT 3.41pm on another punishingly hot afternoon, Gareth Batty let out a roar that might have been audible back in his home town of Bradford.
The roar had been simmering for a while — 11 years and 138 days to be precise — since Batty last tasted the joys of a Test wicket, also against Bangladesh.
That was Chester-le-Street, this was Chittagong, but his spirit has travelled well across time and place.
This triumph, though, felt the more significant, for it was the work of a 39-year-old who must have suspected his international career would forever be limited to an era before England started winning the Ashes regularly. Mohammad Ashraful seemed destined to be his final, underwhelming, Test wicket.
It was a big moment, too, in the context of this intriguing Test. Tamim Iqbal, a stocky left hander, had moved to 78 as Bangladesh reached 163 for three in reply to England’s 293. A hundred on his home ground looked only a matter of time.
But Batty sent one down a touch quicker, and Tamim tried to force him through the off side.
A thin edge was well held by Jonny Bairstow, part of a good performance standing up to the spinners, and Batty loosened his vocal chords.
England grabbed another lifeline shortly before stumps on the second day when Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim, having reached an attractive 48, edged Ben Stokes to Bairstow, who juggled a low catch.
With Bangladesh, who have lost all eight of their previous Tests against England, closing a tough day for Alastair Cook’s bowlers at 221 for five, the game was back in the balance.
Quite whether Batty’s presence in this side reflects entirely positively on the state of English spin bowling is another matter. This is not to doubt his nous, grit or passion, but since that appearance in 2005, England have tried 11 other slow bowlers in Test cricket, not including part-timers.
As much as anything Batty is a sticking-plaster, one who may be asked to cover up a wound that is too gaping by the time England’s Asian sojourn is done and dusted. Even so, the removal of Tamim was a memorable vignette on a day when Surrey’s captain had walked out as perhaps the most overqualified England No 11 in history, and then bowled the second over of the Bangladesh reply.
Wracked by nerves, he served up an opening delivery that was short, wide and punished through the covers by Imrul Kayes. But Batty is an old pro. He settled down, tidy rather than threatening, reliable rather than remarkable. It was the job he had been picked for.
The greater threat, in fact, came from Moeen Ali, whose stock ball is 2- 3mph brisker than his former Worcestershire team-mate’s. Sure enough, in Moeen’s first over — the last before lunch — he bowled Kayes for 21 with a beauty that spun across the left hander, then had Mominul Haque caught in the gully via Bairstow’s thigh for a third-ball duck.
Since Mominul averages more than 100 in Tests at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium, this was a significant breakthrough. It was just as well. With the fast bowlers operating in short bursts the onus was on the spinners to restrict Bangladesh’s batsman.
Adil Rashid began steadily in his first Test since the tour of the UAE a year ago before snaring Mahmudullah, caught at slip by Root, in the last over before tea to make it 119 for three.
But it seems clear Cook does not yet fully trust his leg-spinner, and secondday figures of 13-1-51-1, even while protected by defensive fields, did not settle the matter.
The thinking is that his leg-breaks may prove too hittable in India, where the plan will be to fire the ball into the surface — a tactic that favours finger spinners and should bring Surrey’s left- armer Zafar Ansari into contention.
As Cook wrestled with his slow-bowling options, Tamim continued on his way. He brushed off another error from umpire Kumar Dharmasena, who gave him out caught at slip offf Moeen on 55 when the ball had hit his fore-forearm, and looked dangerous before Batty intervened.
On the day it was confirmed that the DRS will be used during Eng-land’s five-Test series in India, it was — remarkably — the 10th review of the game, of which six were overturned, five of them originally given out by Dharmasena.
A lively fifth- wickett stand of 58 betweenn Mushfiqur and Shakib Al Hasan gave Bangladesh belief that they could pull off their first Test win againstst a side other than Zimbabwe andnd a thirdstring West Indies. But Stokes charged in for one final burst, removed Mushfiqur and almost added nightwatchman Shafiul Islam. It felt as if England had cranked up a gear.
They may regret, however, not adding more than 35 to their overnight score of 258 for seven, with Chris Woakes falling to the first ball of the day prodding Taijul Islam to short leg.
Rashid made a spritely 26 and Stuart Broad unfurled a couple of meaty sweeps before becoming a sixth victim for Bangladesh’s 18- year- old offspinner Mehedi Hasan. But the value of each run will grow as this game progresses and the pitch deteriorates.
The drama is far from over.