How to beat Bangladesh in ODIs

It's easy. Simply make a total that Jamie Siddons doesn't think they can chase. Then he'll tell them not to bother.

'I'm not going to let anyone criticise the team for our approach,' said Siddons, after Bangladesh subjected the crowd at Dambulla to 'three and a half hours of torture', including a period of 26 overs where they hit three boundaries, two of which were unintended. 'If Tamim had made 150, we could have chased 350-380... but Imrul and Junaid had no chance... no chance'.

I admired Siddons and Bangladesh when they were in England last month. He does them, and cricket, a grave disservice here. The game is played on the basis that both sides compete. Anything else is not just unacceptable, but dangerous. Siddons, who leads a young and impressionable team, should be carpeted for this.

Back for good

The beautiful maverick freaks of Pakistan won more than they lost yesterday in the Asia Cup. Afridi is a man they can coalesce around. Strangely, from the outside at least, there's something of Imran about him, in that he knows who he wants in the team and what he wants from them, and then he goes out there and and lays it down.

Eye-catchingly, Shoaib was back, unfit, blowing like an old boiler and having to leave the field after his spells, but back nonetheless and bowling quick. There were a few train-wrecks of course, but Afridi pulled them out of a hole at 32-4, and if an innings of 109 from 76 balls with seven sixes can be described as mature, well this one was [literally]. He restrained himself against Murali, taking only 51 from 25.

They'll probably be all out for about 10 in the next game of course, but it'll be stylish and mad whatever happens. They've been back for a while, but now it feels like, under Afridi, they're, you know, back.