Chittagong: Bangladesh beat England by 2 wickets in this tenth ODI held at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong . It was yet another defeat for the English side that had lost to associate members Ireland just a few weeks prior. Bangladesh inch closer with this victory to the quarterfinals, making group B the group to watch out for this world cup, while England will require quite a recovery to have any chance of taking the cup this time around.

England went into this game weak, with three changes to its side. Stuart Broad was ruled out of the side for the world cup with a side strain. Left-hander Eion Morgan replaced Kevin Pietersen who also suffered an injury. Paul Collingwood was back in the side for the first time in the tournament. As for Bangladesh, Mahmudallah was brought into the side in place of Mohammed Ashraful, and what an important decision that was to be! Bangladesh soon found out.

The Banglas got things right from the start, with captain Shakib Al Hasan winning the toss and putting the opposition on to bat. This was a good decision, considering the dew factor that came into play later. A new opening pair, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior, started the proceedings for England. The side got to a fairly reasonable start with the opening pair but was abruptly pruned due to the silly dismissal of Prior. He was stumped after the ball went down the leg side for a wide and seemed stupefied, as he walked back to the pavilion. Strauss too followed shortly, edging the ball to a slip fielder.

Trott and Morgon then brought some stability into the England innings, with both scoring fifty each. The recovery seemed almost complete until Morgan got out caught due to a blinder taken by opening batsmen Kayes. Trott continued the momentum for a bit after the fall of Morgan till he too perished. England, though had a couple of small partnerships, were low in terms of run-rate. The side was around 170/4 at the end of the 40 overs, going at just above 4 runs an over.

To recover, the English batsmen began to play attacking shots to gather as many as they could. This, however, did not turn out planned, as the side kept losing wickets without scoring much runs. Collingwood, back into the side after a long break, tried his best to help but found it difficult to adjust to the conditions so late in the game. England finally was wrapped up for 225 runs, giving Bangladesh a real chance to win this game.

The Bangladesh side got a cracker of a start, with Tamim Iqbal stroking the English bowlers all across the park. It was not until the 8th over that England got some  relief from this onslaught. Iqbal was dismissed by Bresnan, which left a pin drop silence in the stands. By then, however,the damage had been done, with the team posting a 50-run mark in the 8th over itself.

Bangladesh too lost wickets in quick succession like the English. Captain Shakib Al Hasan brought some stability, with opener Kayes at the other end who was playing an anchoring role for the side. And the matched seemed almost over, until the partnership was broken by a runout causing the fall of Kayes who had looked in fine form so far in the innings. Ajmal Shahzad got then got England back in the game with some fine bowling, taking a couple of quick wickets. Bangladeshis were left speechless, as they went from 155/3 to 170/8.

It seemed all but over for the Bangladesh team at this point. The supporters too had lost heart and many began to make their way to the exit. And then, in a surprise move, Shaiful Islam hit a six off Swann straight into the stands. Bangladesh now needed 37 runs off 42 balls. Islam and replacement Mahmdullah, though under tremendous pressure, kept their cool. Post settling into the crease, the duo went on fire, putting the pressure back on the English. The crowds started roaring again and in the end,with a fine four, Islam wrapped it up for the team. Quite a win, this one!

Summary:

Bangladesh 227 (Kayes 60, Hasan 32, Shahzad 3-43) beat England 225 (Trott 67,Morgan 63,Islam 2-29 ) by 2 wickets.

Man of the Match: Imrun Kayes

According to a report published in The Telegraph, Pietersen was approached by ECB’s senior management after the second Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston where he scored an innings of 80 runs.

“Kevin Pietersen has been warned by the England and Wales Cricket Board against having more meetings with Lalit Modi, the defrocked former commissioner of the Indian Premier League, after they were seen together in London before the first Test with Pakistan at Trent Bridge,” the report said.

In May, ECB chairman Giles Clarke had circulated an email warning county chairman and chief executives against meeting Modi until he is cleared by the BCCI disciplinary committee.

When asked about his meeting with Modi, Pietersen, who had first met him while playing for Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL, told the ECB that he had simply hooked up with an old mate for a beer, the report said.

It had been hoped that Flintoff would return to second XI action with Lancashire this week but his comeback was initially delayed following concerns over how his knee would react to a one-day game. Now the decision has been taken that he will not be able to resume playing at all, this summer.

“Whilst Andrew has made significant progress, the combined opinion is that he is not quite ready for a return to cricket,” Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket director, said. “He will continue his rehabilitation into the winter months and we will constantly monitor and review his progress so that he is better equipped for a return to action.”

This latest setback means he won’t be fit to take part in the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa during September after he’d been named in Chennai Super Kings’ provisional squad for the tournament. There must also be serious doubts over his winter plans which had been expected to included Twenty20 spells in Australia and New Zealand before next year’s IPL.

Flintoff underwent knee surgery two days after England regained the Ashes last August and initially aimed to be ready for the start of the season. That soon became unrealistic and he required a further operation to clean up the knee earlier this year which put his recovery back another six months.

Throughout his rehabilitation, Flintoff, who retired from Test cricket following the Ashes, has said he is determined to win back his England one-day place and had even set his sights on next year’s World Cup in India. That chance now appears to have vanished although there was already a growing feeling that Andy Flower had moved on without Flintoff.

Although the Man of the Match award went to James Anderson for his career-best haul of 11 for 71, England’s margin of victory – and Pakistan’s dramatic collapse to 80 all out on the fourth morning – overshadowed the batting performances of Morgan and Prior. In a match that featured 24 single-figure dismissals but only four fifties, the achievement of Morgan and Prior in reaching three figures was especially notable.

“They were outstanding knocks, both of them,” said Flower. “Obviously, you get ebb and flow in every game but I thought it was a fascinating game for people to watch, and those types of pitches and the swinging ball make it a fascinating battle between bat and ball. I enjoyed watching it myself and the spectators must have loved it.”

Both men came into the match with points to prove, albeit for differing reasons. In Morgan’s case, the onus was on him to capitalise on the absence of Ian Bell and push his credentials as a Test-quality batsman, following a pair of inconclusive displays against Bangladesh earlier in the year. Prior, on the other hand, needed to reaffirm – to the wider public more than anyone else – his status as England’s No. 1 wicketkeeper-batsman, after losing his place in the limited-overs squads to Craig Kieswetter.

In both respects, Flower was hugely impressed. “I thought Morgan’s composure, initially when the ball was moving around and then capitalising on the spin in the afternoon, was almost a typically perfect Test innings,” he said. “I thought the tempo with which he played his shots and innings was ideal. Prior’s knock was superb as well, in fact I think that is the best I have ever seen him bat.”

When asked if he believed that Prior’s omission from the one-day set-up had made him all the more determined to succeed, Flower was unequivocal. “I am sure it did, and perhaps there is a lesson there: you should not need spurring on to perform at your peak level for England. He is determined and that is part of the reason why he has been successful at international cricket. That sort of determination is exactly what we want from our players.”

Prior’s confidence and class with the bat is expected to inevitably refuel the debate about whether England should play four bowlers or five during this winter’s Ashes, but Flower insisted that the ability of his wicketkeeper was not the sticking point in that particular selection issue.

“The other all-rounder has to be good enough at his job to bat at No. 6 or 7,” said Flower. “Matt Prior plays as a keeper-batter but the other guy needs to be good enough at his job to perform as an all-rounder. Obviously [if we found one], that is what we would do, but we are not looking for vindication. We make our decisions on what we feel will give us the best chance of winning.”

In the conditions that were presented to England at Trent Bridge, however, a three-man attack would have been sufficient to wrap up victory, seeing as their fourth bowler, Graeme Swann, contributed two wicketless overs out of 83 in the match. And while Flower knows as well as anyone how dramatically Anderson’s performances can fluctuate, he was rightly full of praise for a man who, on this occasion, got absolutely everything right.

“It was a superb performance,” said Flower. “We know what Jimmy can do when the ball swings, and that was a very good thing for his confidence. But it’s like that for any bowler. If Murali came across a glass-like pitch he would be less effective than he is when he bowls at Galle. That is the same for any bowler. They have conditions that suit them more one day than the other.”

Of course, Anderson will not be counting on such overhead assistance in Brisbane come November, but Flower believes his strike bowler is making significant strides in his development. “It is important to learn to adapt to those different situations, and yes, he is learning, certainly. He is a better bowler than he was and he will continue learning. He is a very experienced bowler now and we do rely a lot on him regardless of conditions.”

Anderson’s main ally in Nottingham was the much hyped Steven Finn, who mopped up five key wickets in the course of the match, including three in the space of his first 19 balls. He has impressed one and all since making his Test debut in Chittagong in March following a last-minute injury call-up, and on his return to the England set-up after missing the ODIs for a course of “strength and conditioning”, he even impressed with his batting, as he held up an end in a 49-run tenth-wicket stand that allowed Prior to reach his hundred.

“I was very impressed with him for a number of reasons,” said Flower. “Firstly, the way he started his very first spell. He was bang on the money six balls out of six, and at the end of that first over he got the wicket. And considering that was his first over back from his break – a break that had been given a lot of publicity – it was a very mature way to handle it. And I thought he batted with a lot of nous and composure. Those things all bode well for him. He is very mature for a young man and that will stand him in good stead because he is going to have some serious challenges in the future. He keeps things nice and simple, he keeps things in perspective, which a great position for him to be.”

Looking ahead to Edgbaston, a ground on which Stuart Broad claimed career-best figures of 8 for 52 for Nottinghamshire last week, a sixth consecutive test victory for England looks well on the cards. However, as Pakistan’s captain, Salman Butt, was at pains to point out, it was only two Tests ago that his team bounced back from a similarly heavy defeat against Australia to square the series with a thrilling bowling display. And with the experienced Mohammad Yousuf now set to bolster the middle order, England know their work is far from done.

“I think it is always useful to remind sportsmen about complacency, because sometimes it is very easy in our cosseted world not to appreciate how lucky we are or, indeed, how hard you have to work for success,” said Flower. “It is quite an easy mistake to make, so we do have to remind ourselves of that constantly.”

“What we are looking for is for our guys to be ready to play at 11 o’clock on Friday, and to play somewhere near their potential,” he added. “I think our team is feeling reasonably confident at the moment but we are only one Test into a four-Test series and we all realise that this game ebbs and flows very quickly. You have to respect the game and respect the opposition, and there is no complacency whatsoever in our camp.”

Speed hinted at Pawar having used BCCI’s financial clout in the decision to reject John Howard’s candidacy for the post of ICC Vice President and went on to predict that by 2012, the ICC headquarters will be based in Mumbai and not Dubai.

“Rest assured, he (Howard) was not rejected because of his lack of experience as a cricket administrator, his strong opposition to Robert Mugabe’s disastrous regime in Zimbabwe or his outspoken views about Muttiah Muralitharan’s controversial bowling action. There is more to it than that,” Speed wrote in a column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speed said Pawar, who will head the ICC until 2012 starting today, would not even be available full-time as he is a serving Union Minister in the Indian government.

“The man who is to be the next ICC president, Sharad Pawar, is the Minister for Agriculture in the Indian government – a serious full-time job, feeding 1.2 billion people. He is a good and fair man but he will be working part-time as ICC president and, take it from me, he knows little about cricket administration,” Speed said.

The Australian claimed that Pawar spent little time in the ICC meetings he attended in the past.

“I was present at several ICC board meetings he attended. ICC meetings generally last two days. Pawar attended for one hour and was then replaced by one of the Board of Control for Cricket in India apparatchiks. They were concerned that he was too busy and would be too reasonable,” he recalled.

Speed’s tenure in the ICC ended rather acrimoniously in 2008 after a fallout with the then President Ray Mali over the governing body’s refusal to take action against financial bunglings in Zimbabwe Cricket.

Speed said Australia and New Zealand, who jointly nominated Howard, should now refuse to put up an alternate candidate as has been asked by the ICC.

“The decision of the ICC members to reject the nomination of John Howard by the cricket boards of Australia and New Zealand is a disgrace and an insult to both countries. So where to now? Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket should refuse to put forward another nominee. Under the rotation system, it is then the turn of Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Speed said.

“When these two countries come forward with their joint nominee, Australia and New Zealand should politely refrain from voting. In the meantime, they should be banging the table and making their displeasure widely known,” Speed said. “The rejection is a symptom of the wider malaise that afflicts world cricket and its dysfunctional governing body. Under previous rotation systems, Australia and New Zealand have accepted nominations from other countries for the presidency when they clearly had strong reservations about the candidates. They expected the same respect for their candidate and they did not get it. Instead, they and Howard were insulted.”

Praising Howard, Speed said the former PM would have been the perfect leader to make the “dysfunctional” body work.

“Howard has been rejected because his appointment would provide ICC with strong leadership that would thwart the ambitions of several current administrators to downgrade and devalue the role of the ICC,” he said. “Howard would have stood in their path. The role requires strength of character – a leader, diplomat, statesman and politician. The ICC board is as political as any political party. The countries that voted him down want a compliant figurehead who will do their bidding.”

“To conclude, let me make a prediction. The ICC head office moved from London to Dubai in 2005. Howard’s rejection is a clear sign that the ICC will be based in Mumbai by 2012,” he added.

Victory meant Ashes-holders England, who defeated Australia in last month’s World Twenty20 final in Barbados, had now enjoyed recent success against their arch-rivals in all three forms of international cricket.

England begin the defence of the Ashes in Australia, where they haven’t won a Test series since 1986, in November and Strauss stressed this campaign would have no effect on that contest.

But the England captain, who made his best ODI score against Australia of 87 here on Sunday, believed a clean sweep could have an influence upon next year’s World Cup in Asia, where Ricky Ponting’s men will be looking to win a fourth straight title.

“I don’t think we can read much into the Ashes in such a radically different format of the game,” Strauss told reporters. “But for the World Cup, I think it would instill us with a huge amount of confidence. We’re aiming for it (5-0) — we’re in a great position to do that now. We don’t want to take our foot off the gas.”

England, having dismissed Australia for 212 with off-spinner Graeme Swann taking four wickets for 37 runs in 10 overs and James Anderson, on his Lancashire home ground, three for 22, were coasting at 185 for three. But a dramatic collapse in the face of accurate and hostile fast bowling from left-arm quick Doug Bollinger (three for 20) and the recalled Shaun Tait (three for 28), playing his first one-day international in over a year, sparked a sensational slump.

England lost six wickets for 18 runs in 39 balls as they collapsed to 203 for nine. But Tim Bresnan (14 not out off 15 balls) held his nerve and an edged four off James Hopes saw England home with five balls and a wicket to spare.

“It was quite horrendous, those last 10 overs,” Strauss said. “Getting past the 40th over three wickets down, needing 35 or so to win, we thought we’d just cruise over. The lesson to take out of that is that one of I or ‘Morgy’ (Eoin Morgan) should have been there at the end. The challenge is just to get the job done in those last 10 overs. I don’t think we’ve been that exposed, other than being the architects of our own downfall in the back-end of the game.”

“Australia bowled fantastically well. There aren’t many sides that go 3-0 up against Australia, so I think we should take a huge amount of confidence from the way we’ve played,” he added.

Strauss paid tribute to man-of-the-match Swann’s latest impressive display for England by saying, “Swanny has been outstanding in all forms of the game for a good period of time. Australia’s batting unit looks under a bit of pressure. That’s credit to the way we’ve bowled at them.”

Whereas previously England — beaten 6-1 in one-day series at home to Australia last year — would have lost after collapsing as they did on Sunday, now they had enough nerves to seal victory.

“It was clear what Bresnan had to do but he did it really well,” Strauss said. “I think when you’re used to winning, you just back yourself to get over the line. If we’d lost our last seven one-dayers, we almost certainly would have thought we were going to lose that one. That’s the difference.”

It seemed world champions Australia were about to inflict fresh one-day misery on England as the hosts, chasing 268 for victory under the Rose Bowl floodlights, slumped to 97 for four. But a superb 103 not out from left-hander Eoin Morgan, a Middlesex colleague of Strauss, turned the tide and saw England to a four-wicket win in the opening fixture of a five-match series.

Last year Australia, after losing the Ashes, thrashed England 6-1 on English soil in a one-day series and followed that up with a nine-wicket semi-final win en route to lifting the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

A cautious Strauss was reluctant to compare the current England one-day side with the lacklustre outfit of a year ago, saying, “I’d prefer to answer that after five games, not one.”

“We’ve done a lot of things right in this game. The bowlers did a good job to restrict them to 267, and I think at the halfway mark we were in front. But it’s just one game of cricket – and Australia being Australia, they will come back hard at us for these remaining games. Let’s not pat ourselves on the back too much at this stage,” he said.

Certainly the growing influence of former Ireland batsman Morgan, a member of the England side that beat Australia in last month’s World Twenty20 final in Barbados, has been a boon to his adopted country, but Morgan attributed his success over the past year to the hard work that he has put in in the nets with coach Andy Flower.

“Playing against such a big side like Australia, and given the circumstances, I was quite proud of myself,” Morgan said after the squad arrived in Cardiff for the second ODI.

Morgan came in at a critical time for England, who stumbled to 97 for 4 early in his innings. But he demonstrated a cool head and struck 16 boundaries to all parts of the ground. Importantly, Morgan saw the chase of 268 through to the very end, and brought up his hundred with the winning four straight back down the ground. His power was a feature of the innings, and several times he cleared Australia’s infield with ease.

“I’ve learned with experience. I’ve batted at four and five for a long time and been in different situations,” he said. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes and, over the last couple of years, I’ve learned to give myself a lot more time. I’ve worked on the power-hitting and the longer I stay at the crease the more I give myself a chance. I do put in a hell of a lot of hard work. I do a lot of work in my own time and with guys I like to work with. That’s taking nothing away from England, I work quite hard with Andy Flower and the other senior players within the side,” said the former Ireland player.

Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, insisted that he detected no change in England’s attitude to the one-day game. “Maybe they are getting a few more results now,” Ponting said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s been a change in attitude, it might just mean they are actually playing better and executing their skills when they need to. I thought this (Tuesday’s match) was a pretty even contest, for the majority of the game it was right in the balance.”

The second match of the series takes place in Cardiff on Thursday where England’s final-wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar somehow clung on for a draw in the first Test against Australia last year.

It was a result that proved to be significant with England going on to regain the Ashes 2-1 in a five-match campaign. But the tailenders’ heroics were marred slightly by various England time-wasting tactics, including sending on the 12th man and the physiotherapist when neither batsman appeared to be suffering any sort of injury at all.

Ponting, asked what he thought about returning to Sophia Gardens, jokingly said, “Is the 12th man going to come on again or something?”

“I haven’t thought about the Test match, we are here to play a one-dayer. But looking at the Test, we’ll probably have a bit of an idea about the wicket might be like, a bit slower and less bounce than this one out here (at the Rose Bowl). We’re 1-0 down with four games to go,” Ponting said. “We’ve got to make sure we are in the best shape we can be physically and mentally for the next challenge we’ve got.”

Finn was England’s Man of the Series in the recently concluded test series against Bangladesh, picking up 15 wickets in two tests including two five-wicket hauls.

“Steven Finn has had an impressive start to the summer and will now undertake a strengthening programme similar to that recently undertaken by Stuart Broad,” said Geoff Miller, England’s national selector. “This will also rule Steven out of the NatWest Series against Australia and Bangladesh before his preparation for the npower Test series against Pakistan.”

However, England coach Andy Flower insisted the move had nothing to do with hiding Finn ahead of the winter’s Ashes tour and preventing Australia from making early notes about the tall quick bowler. “It does not have anything to do with Australia, or the Australian [ODI] series,” he said.

“I would be very strong in the description that this is definitely not rest,” he added. “He will not be resting; he will be doing a very intensive strengthening programme. He is a young man that needs to develop more physically, and there is a window of opportunity to do that. The reason he is being pulled out of Twenty20 is that he needs this in the same way Stuart Broad did. It is the responsible thing to do for him personally and in the best interests, medium and long term, of the English cricket side.”

Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann are also going to be rested ahead of England’s upcoming one-day internationals against Scotland, Australia and Bangladesh and will be unavailable for any Friends Provident domestic Twenty20 games before their international engagements.

Miller explained that while Twenty20 cricket gives the players the chance to switch from a Test to a limited-overs mindset, it is important to be mindful of regulating player workloads.

“The coming rounds of the Friend’s Provident t20 matches are an ideal opportunity for several England players to switch their focus from Test cricket to limited-overs cricket as we look ahead to the forthcoming one-day International against Scotland and the NatWest Series against Australia and Bangladesh,” he said. “We must be mindful of the management of the players’ workload and their desire to play in what is a hugely exciting Twenty20 competition. Graeme Swann is in need of a well earned break and as a result won’t play any cricket during this period. We believe the best preparation for Andrew Strauss’s build up to the NatWest series does not involve the Friend’s Provident t20 fixtures and as such he won’t be available for these matches during this period.”

James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, and Kevin Pietersen will have a week’s rest but will be available to play domestic Twenty20s from June 13. Alastair Cook will receive treatment for an ongoing back injury later this week before returning for Essex on the same date.

“I feel for the counties when we make these decisions on players and pull them out of county games,” Flower said. “The directors of cricket and coaches and captains are under their own pressure with results. When you pull their best players out of competitive matches, it is quite a hit for them. I realise it requires a lot of understanding from them, and we very much appreciate it.”

Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebottom, Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott will be available for all county fixtures until June 15. England plays Scotland in Edinburgh on June 19 before five ODIs against Australia, starting on June 22, and three against Bangladesh.

Finn, who picked up two five-wicket hauls in two tests, was named England’s Man of the Series in the series which concluded on Sunday.

When asked whether Finn would be making his ODI debut too in the upcoming series, skipper Andrew Strauss was non committal but explained why he may not be selected.

“There is no reason why Finn can’t be a one-day bowler, but whether he is ready yet is something we will have to debate,” Strauss was quoted as saying in The Guardian.

“His record is better for Middlesex in four-day than one-day cricket,” said Strauss who is Finn’s county captain. “Workload is an issue as well. Finny has made an impact and he has shown what he is capable of, but it is important that we allow him a bit of time to develop. We don’t need to rush things. He is going to have a long career ahead of him and we need to manage that.”

England bowled Bangladesh out twice in consecutive sessions to seal a 2-0 series triumph, the touring side capitulating in their second innings to 123 all out and slipping to an innings defeat inside three days.

After rain wiped out the morning session, England made up for lost time by taking 10 wickets in 34.1 overs led by fast bowlers Steven Finn, who took five for 42, and James Anderson whose figures were three for 16.

“They were two crazy sessions,” Strauss told a news conference as he sat next to England’s man-of-the-series Finn. “To finish the game like that was a nice way to wrap things up. It was a professional job. There was a lot that came out of these two games, like the performances of Steven Finn and Ajmal Shahzad and Eoin Morgan got two tests under his belt, but we are realistic enough to know there are sterner tests to come.”

“But it has been really good to have a look at some of the other guys that have come in – the likes of Finny, Ajmal [Shahzad] – they have certainly made a significant impact in this Test match and Eoin Morgan has got a game as well. I think that is encouraging,” he added.

Pakistan are up next for England in a four-test series starting in July and Strauss was relishing the examination they will provide before the Ashes series in Australia.

“We want to face the best quality side from Pakistan as possible,” Strauss said. “That is better for test cricket in general and Pakistan cricket. It is going to be a good test for us prior to the Ashes.”

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons, rarely shy to criticise his team when they have under-performed, praised the quality of England’s bowling.

“The conditions and the swing were too much for us today and Swanny (Graeme Swann) bowled beautifully yesterday,” Australian Siddons said. “They bowled beautifully in both of those sessions. It was good test bowling. But it was James Anderson who tore the heart out of us. Finny may have taken five in the end but it was Anderson who did the damage with his swing bowling. He would have taken wickets against any team in the world with that first spell, especially against left-handers.”

England’s Man of the Series, Steven Finn, meanwhile, had his feet firmly on the ground even after picking up 15 wickets in his first home series, saying that he expects things to get difficult for him from here on.

“I am not kidding myself,” Finn said. “I have taken two five-fors. I was quite fortunate to take five today, I think the other guys bowled fantastically well, especially Ajmal and Jimmy. The pressure they built helped. It is fantastic to take two five-fors in two Tests but by no means am I kidding myself that anything is going to be easier from here on in. It is for me to put in performances and keep trying to do so.”

With the promising debut of Ahmad Shahzad, who claimed the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan to add to his three first-innings scalps, England’s collection of pace bowlers continues to be bolstered. Ryan Sidebottom was left out of the XI here and Stuart Broad will return for the one-dayers which begin against Scotland on June 19.

“Long-term you are never going to play the same XI. It is impossible to believe that is going to happen,” Strauss said. “You need to have good strength-in-depth in the bowling resources. We always thought Steven and Ajmal had the capability of playing Test cricket. Finny has shown that over the four Test matches he has played. He has got a good future ahead of him. Ajmal has taken what we saw in the nets, which we were quite impressed by, out into the middle. He has added his name to that list of guys that are there or thereabouts for selection.”