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.

Stat of the day

Population of Bangladesh: 160,000,000

Number of bowling machines in Bangladesh: 4

From TMS this morning. That's why they can all bowl spin...

Man dismissed by spin bowler in Bangladesh

This morning the British media seized on the extraordinary story of a batsman dismissed several times by spin bowlers in Bangladesh. Some outlets have named the man as Kevin Pietersen, 29, who is believed to live in Chelsea.

'It had to happen eventually and it's the story of the decade,' said one source. 'You'll be reading about it in all the papers'.

'We haven't had a story as good as this one since someone was dismissed by fast bowling in the West Indies. It's incredible. Actually, now I think about it, it might even have been the same man'.