Getting a Grip

Ok, so being beaten by Bangladesh for the first time in all competitive cricket isn't great; but it isn't the end of the world. Amid the storms of gnashing and wailing that may well follow the second failure of a national (male) sports team inside 3 weeks, here's a rather un-English suggestion: let's have a think about the positives to be gleaned from the wreckage of Ian Bell's left foot and another braking of the Craig Kieswetter bandwagon.

It had to be coming

New Zealand, the fifth nation to assume test-playing status, started their first game of international cricket on the 10th of January 1930. Twenty-six years passed before, in Auckland in March 1956, they recorded their first win over a touring West Indies team. Bangladesh's first foray into international cricket came, appropriately enough, in England, in the 1979 ICC Trophy; their first victory over England was thus 31 years in the making. So basically -- even though we're talking about the first victory ever, rather than simply over England, and disregarding the fact that the more recent span will have included far more games of cricket -- it was about time.

We haven't won the Ashes

After the first three matches of the most recent series of ODIs, an uninformed observer could have been forgiven for thinking the England team had managed a repeat of a certain 2005 and 2009 achievement, and a little replica urn was already in the bag (or trophy cabinet, depending on how mixed you like your metaphors). While the final two rubbers dampened the spirits slightly, momentum is a powerful force: a 3-2 scoreline provided ample evidence -- so the thinking inevitably went -- for a surge in English power in the game. This result may just remind the sporting hack fraternity that Brisbane in November is still a long way away.

Calm down, dear

Following on from that last point, it's less than two short months since England's much-praised victory in Barbados, and already cricket journos are talking in animated terms about England's chances in next year's World Cup. Surely a little sense of perspective is a good thing?