DHAKA, Nov 11: Cricket chiefs conceded on Tuesday that Bangladesh should have been given more help as a young Test side but said victory for them over the next two years would justify the decision to let them play at the top level.

“Hindsight has a great advantage,” International Cricket Council (ICC) President Ehsan Mani told a news conference.

“They did very well in their first game against India but have fallen away quite dramatically since then. They are, however, a member of the ICC and we can only think of ways to take them forward.”

Bangladesh became cricket’s 10th Test nation in 2000 and have lost 25 and drawn one of their 26 matches. They have not won a one-day international in a world-record 46 attempts, their last success dating back to 1999.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed added: “It was not a mistake to grant them Test status.

“Perhaps in the early stages we should have helped them by making them play more at home rather than away. I’m comfortable with the way they are progressing.

“If they win a test or a one-day series over the next two years, we’ll be fairly satisfied.”

He said Bangladesh should target reaching the second round of the 2007 World Cup. The team lost all their group matches at this year’s World Cup in South Africa, including a defeat against Canada.

Mani and Speed were in Bangladesh to launch the under-19 World Cup, which will be held there early next year.

“Bangladesh still have a long way to go,” Mani added. “The under-19 World Cup will help them a great deal in terms of development of new facilities...and in improving the standard of the game.”

Under new coach Dav Whatmore, a former Australia Test batsman and who guided Sri Lanka to World Cup success in 1996, Bangladesh have shown signs of improvement, losing to Pakistan at Multan by a single wicket before running England close in Dhaka last month.—Reuters