da premier bet： England completed a highly satisfying warm-up match but couldn’t quite polish off an obdurate tail, as the BCB President’s XI reached the close on 143 for 9
The Wisden Bulletin by Andrew Miller22-Jun-2005Close
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Ashley Giles: took 3 for 47 as England pressed for victory
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England completed a highly satisfying warm-up match – one that had seemed anunlikely starter after the torrential rains that greeted their arrival – asGareth Batty and Ashley Giles picked up six wickets between them in theirfirst outing of the tour. They couldn’t quite polish off an obdurate tail,as the BCB President’s XI reached the close on 143 for 9, but for Englandthe result mattered less than the practice.For the young Bangladeshi side, however – eight of whom are members of theU19 squad that will play in the World Cup here next March – survival was animpressive accomplishment, albeit aided by the weather on the first day. Ithad not seemed likely when seven wickets fell in rapid succession after tea,but Nadif Chowdhury and Gazi Alamgir gritted their teeth to carry the matchinto the final over of the day. A late twist seemed on the cards when SteveHarmison yorked Chowdhury for 26 with two balls remaining, but Enamul Haqueheld fast to deny England victory.Such resistance was unexpected after the Bangladeshi efforts in the firstinnings. They had teetered to 46 for 6 overnight, and England required justsix overs to wrap up proceedings for a paltry 57. Matthew Hoggard once againdisplayed the sort of form that he had consistently shown in Pakistan andSri Lanka three winters ago. He added three more wickets to his overnighthaul, to finish with 6 for 13 from 9.3 overs.In theory, the President’s XI had avoided the follow-on by four runs, butthere would never have been any intention of enforcing it, especially afterEngland had lost four wickets for no runs on the second afternoon. Insteadit was left to two of those victims, Graham Thorpe and Rikki Clarke, to getsome much-needed time in the middle. Thorpe was in supreme touch for his 47,but Clarke – whose place remains under threat from Paul Collingwood – wasless able to settle. He found the spinners particularly tricky to handle,and when he was finally bowled by Enamul for 19, England declared on 69 for1, and lunch was taken.Martin Saggers made England’s first breakthrough in the tenth over of theresumption, when Chris Read pulled off a fine one-handed catch in front offirst slip to remove Nadif Iqbal for 20 (36 for 1). But Aftab Ahmed, verymuch a candidate for next week’s first Test, lead the resistance with asparkling 45 that included four fours and a mighty pulled six off Clarke.But Clarke had his revenge in his very next over, when Aftab was trappedlbw, and the innings frittered away. Hannan Sarkar’s patient 16 soon came toan end as Giles won his first lbw appeal of the day, and Batty entered theattack from the opposite end to provide the final touch to England’spreparations.The spinners wheeled away, with great accuracy but no spectacular turn, andseven wickets tumbled for 37 as the inexperience of the Bangladeshisthreatened to be their undoing. But Chowdhury and Alamgir rallied the tailto ensure that first blood in this tour has yet to be drawn.