It proved harder than many expected, but England secured a 2-0 series victory with their nine-wicket win in Dhaka
Andrew McGlashan25-Mar-2010Captain in the runs: Alastair Cook didn’t let leadership effect his batting form with two hundreds in the series•PA PhotosAlastair Cook – 8For a stand-in captain to arrive for a tour where the expectation is of a clean-sweep certainly added to the pressure, but Cook leaves with his record intact. Importantly for a captain his own batting form led from the front with a career-best 173 at Chittagong and an unbeaten 109 at Dhaka. The hard work he has put into his technique continued to pay off, albeit against a weak bowling attack. Some of his captaincy raised eyebrows – and he’ll want to forget the second morning in Dhaka – but he stuck to his guns and will have learnt plenty about the role. Will be a valuable deputy when Andrew Strauss returns.Jonathan Trott – 5A bit of a nothing tour for Trott, who never completely missed out with the bat but didn’t cash in, either. Received a couple of rough umpiring decisions – caught behind off the helmet and his run out at Dhaka – and was shunted up to open in the second Test where he responded with a laborious 64. It averted a potential collapse, but he needs to find ways of scoring more freely against spin. His fielding is a concern; the drop at Dhaka was a real YouTube moment.Kevin Pietersen – 6Finally the runs returned – it was only ever going to be a matter of time. A judgement on his true form will have to wait for more testing attacks, but the swagger was evident again. By the run-chase at Dhaka he was playing the switch hit and he may well look back on this short series as a key time in his recovery. Showed his determination to work hard by changing his technique to left-arm spin although still fell to them the three times he was dismissed. Pleasingly, he wants to work on his bowling.Paul Collingwood – 6Cashed in when the going was easy at Chittagong, but his 145 was no more than he deserved after spending vast amounts of time staving off Australia and South Africa last year. Will always be underrated, but now has ten Test hundreds. Only bowled one over all series although the management denied there was any injury issue and his catching wasn’t quite as infallible as normal.Ian Bell – 8Never has Bell been such a reassuring presence in the middle order. His runs at Chittagong were virtually freebies, but in the second Test his stylish 138 saved England from potential embarrassment and finally meant he was the lone century-maker in an innings. The No. 3 question will continue to be asked, but Bell is a perfect fit for that middle-order role. He should now kick-on and produce the career everyone has expected since he was an Under-19.Matt Prior – 6Was only called on for one significant innings and responded with a confident 62 at Dhaka before a hot-headed swipe meant he missed out on plenty more. Remains good enough to bat at No. 6 if England want five bowlers. Dropped a couple of tough chances against the spinners, but in hot conditions generally maintained his standards well. Has no challenger for his Test spot.Taking his chance: Tim Bresnan was the pick of England’s seamers and also provided an important innings at Dhaka•Getty ImagesTim Bresnan – 7For a man who wasn’t in the original squad, Bresnan took his chance with both hands. He was England’s most consistent seamer, but was more impressive with the old ball than the new one finding testing reverse swing in both Tests. He’ll have to wait a long time to bowl a better delivery than the one to remove Tamim Iqbal at Chittagong. Justified his promotion to No. 7 with a vital 91 in the second Test and could well have inked himself in for the first Test of the home series if Graham Onions remains unfit. The Ashes, though, is probably a different question.Graeme Swann – 9What would England do without Swann? Struggle to beat Bangladesh is the answer. There appears no sign of his form wavering as he claimed another Man-of-the-Series award after collecting 16 scalps in the two Tests including a 10-wicket haul at Chittagong. Maintained his amazing skill of striking in the first over of a spell and continued to show the value of giving the ball a rip. If two Tests bowling on these pitches can’t quell his enthusiasm, nothing will. His send-off of Junaid Siddique was unbecoming of such a fine man and he quickly apologised.Stuart Broad – 6There was a lot of huff and puff from Broad and quite a few snarls and stares to go with it, but not a huge amount of success on two dead pitches. Made an early mark with the new ball in the first Test, but struggled with the heat later in the game. The most significant aspect of Broad’s performance was his use of reverse swing in Dhaka, but he still needs to learn to watch that temper. Has been overtaken in the batting stakes by Swann.James Tredwell – 7Should have played in the first Test and didn’t let anyone down when he finally earned his debut. He ended Tamim’s blitz at a vital time and toiled away consistently throughout the match with six wickets a deserved return. Useful runs down the order, but he isn’t the long-term answer to England’s second-spinner role.Steven Finn – 5Impressed so much in the warm-up game that he leapfrogged Ajmal Shahzad and Liam Plunkett in the fast-bowling queue. After a nervous first spell he was impressive at Chittagong, extracting the most bounce of any of the quicks and showed he already knew about reverse swing. Not quite so effective at Dhaka as the strain of back-to-back Tests took its toll, but is certainly one for the future although may find himself back in the county ranks for a while.Michael Carberry – 4Two unfulfilling innings as he became bogged down against spin having looked at ease against pace. However, he was brilliant in the fielding with his stop, slide and throw to remove Naeem Islam a vital moment when England had gone flat. But will have to wait for injury for another chance.
