Running out of patience

Tests involving Bangladesh don't often take second place in Dhaka's daily newspapers. But last Friday, the Under-19 World Cup clash against India, a must-win match for Bangladesh, dominated even the first day's events in the Harare Test against Zimbabwe.

Never mind that this was a group game of the youth championships; the sports pages were awash with critical analyses, possible strategies to counter India's awesome batting, features on the players to watch and a whole load of other pre-match build-up items that would have done the World Cup final itself proud.

In fact, the U19 World Cup has been the main sports news ever since the teams started arriving in Dhaka on February 8. The opening ceremony was given generous front-page space, all the practice games in all four corners of the country were covered, and on February 15 some newspapers even brought out colour supplements to celebrate the first round of matches.

At the same time, Bangladesh's premier football league happened to be reaching its climax, while the Test team was fighting hard (for the first three-and-a-half days at least) against Zimbabwe. But the real buzz in Bangladesh was all centred on the kids.

On Friday, the Bangabandhu press box was as full as it has ever been for an U19 match, while the ground itself was at its crowded best. Schoolchildren were allowed free entry, and the stage was set for something special. In the end, sadly, it turned out that only one side made an appearance. By the time India had amassed 307 for 3, after inexplicably being put in on the flattest of tracks, the contest was already as good as over.

Spectators started leaving 20 overs into Bangladesh's run-chase, and even the New Zealanders - who had come to the ground with their fingers crossed as their Super League prospects depended on a Bangladeshi loss - thought there were better things to do. Their coach Dayle Hadlee, brother of the legendary Richard, took his young players to the shops encircling the neighbouring Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium, where you can get any brand of cricket gear at a bargain price.

Inside the BNS, Bangladesh's last rites were being written. The national-newspaper industry is absolutely Dhaka-based, so all the major dailies had at least two correspondents covering the match. With their team nowhere near the required run-rate and losing wickets regularly, mixed sentiments of anger, frustration and resignation set in in the press box. The U19s had been expected to present a powerful statement about Bangladesh's cricket future, but instead they had bowed out of the main event with more of a whimper than a bang.

A 139-run drubbing condemned Bangladesh to the Plate championship, and their Australian coach Richard McInnes faced the fury of 50-odd journalists after the match. It was not a pretty confrontation, as he lost his head when asked to evaluate his own performance and competence.

"Do you think the Board should reconsider your contract with Bangladesh after this defeat?" asked one reporter. Another pointed out that the team had been bundled out for 34 in one recent fixture. A third reminded him of a recent controversial statement, in which he had declared there were only three qualified coaches in the whole country. Branding such questions as a form of personal attack, McInnes stormed out of the conference room after allegedly issuing an "I'll see you outside" threat to one of his interrogators. Within hours, however, he was issuing an official press release, apologising unequivocally to the media for his outburst.

The brief flare-up was a perfect example of the kind of passion that cricket can generate in Bangladesh. There was nothing personal in the media's wrath towards McInnes, but rather a genuine concern for the game and its future.

The past week's coverage of the competition has far outweighed anything afforded to the past four U19 World Cups. The television news channels all put the latest competition news in their headlines, while cellphone companies have prepared special updates for subscribers to catch the latest scores. This is exactly the sort of emotion Bangladesh's cricket lives on. Unfortunately the cricketers who don the national colours are still struggling to live up to those expectations.