Bangladesh ultimately lost the first Test against England at Lord's, but demonstrated its improvement by forcing England to toil for four days and two sessions to finish off an opponent it was expected to beat comfortably.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan feels his side is tantalizingly close to making a breakthrough in the test arena.

“We know we will win some games if we win sessions, day by day, but we need to improve our bowling, especially in these conditions,” he said. “At home we can depend on our spinners, but here we have to depend on our fast bowlers, so they need to learn quickly.”

When the sides meet at Old Trafford, Bangladesh will be aiming to avoid defeat for the first time against England.

Disappointment at losing by eight wickets at Lord's was tempered with pride in a competitive performance by its batsmen. The highlight was a flamboyant 103 in the second innings from Tamim Iqbal, who said he had been inspired by some characteristically blunt remarks about his country by the former England opener Geoffrey Boycott.

“I saw him commenting that Bangladesh should not play test cricket,” Tamim said. “I felt very bad and I could not sleep till 1a.m. It made me determined to do something to show him.

“They are senior cricketers who we respect. We expect them to respect us as well; I wanted to prove to the world that we are getting there.”

England coach Andy Flower concurred saying, “Other people have talked Bangladesh down, but we haven't.”

“We respect them. They fought very hard in Bangladesh and they fought very hard here.”

The gap between the sides was no wider than the gulf that separated England from Australia or the West Indies just a decade or two ago, when ritual English humiliation was the norm.

And statistics confirm the impression that Bangladesh is improving.

Their aggregate score in the first Test at Lord's was 664, thier fifth highest in Test cricket, and two of the four higher scores were also made this year.

Tamim's stand of 185 with Imrul Kayes for the first wicket of the second innings was a new record for Bangladesh and the top three batsmen all scored 50 in a test innings for the first time.

The problem lies with the bowlers, derided as 'minor counties' standard by Boycott. Although Shahadat Hossain became the first Bangladesh bowler to take five wickets at Lord's, with 5-98, England was seldom troubled as its batsmen cantered to the win.

“When it was overcast the ball was doing a bit but we didn't apply ourselves for long periods of time and that cost us the game,” Shakib said.

BALANCE IS THE KEY FOR ENGLAND

England, unusually for a side that has just won a match by eight wickets, face a selection dilemma ahead of the second and final Test against Bangladesh.

Pace bowler Tim Bresnan suffered a stress fracture of his left foot during England's comprehensive victory at Lord's, concluded on Monday, and has been ruled out, meaning England must change a winning team.

England's general preference in recent times has been to go with six batsmen and four bowlers.

If they stick with that policy World Twenty20 winner Ryan Sidebottom, now at Nottinghamshire, and the uncapped Ajmal Shahzad, an unused member of England's squad in the Caribbean, face a shoot-out to replace their fellow Yorkshireman.

But there were times when, with the old ball and the sun out, England's four-man attack looked laboured at Lord's, even though fast bowler Steven Finn took nine wickets on his home debut.

That may encourage England to field a five-man attack and dispense with a batsman, in which case Ian Bell's place may be under threat.

However, England coach Andy Flower said during the Lord's Test “I don't think the number of bowlers is the issue.

“I think the way we bowled is the issue. I think the bowlers themselves would acknowledge they have not performed as they would have liked.”

Shahzad, unlike Sidebottom, was in the original 12-man squad at Lord's and so appears to be in pole position for a call now Bresnan is unavailable.

A lively pace bowler, the 24-year-old Shahzad, the first British-born Asian to play for Yorkshire, is sure to enjoy an Old Trafford pitch that usually has more bounce and carry than the one at Lord's if given the chance.

Although his international experience is limited to a solitary Twenty20 international, Shahzad does not lack for self-confidence and is eager for his Test debut.

“I hope I can make my debut on Friday,” he told reporters here on Wednesday. “I have been back at Yorkshire and got a few overs under my belt, 29 of them in fact, and I am looking forward to it.

“I think I am ready to go if I get the nod and make my debut. I am desperate to be involved and I just want to play cricket.” But Sidebottom, the only left-arm quick in the squad, does have the advantage of a different angle of attack.

England's first innings total of 505 at Lord's was built upon Jonathan Trott's 226, a score which realised one of captain Andrew Strauss's ongoing targets for the team that batsmen should make big hundreds.

The skipper himself returned to international cricket with two scores in the 80s and will be keen to carry that form with him to Manchester.

Although this latest defeat meant Bangladesh have lost all seven of their Tests with England, there were encouraging signs for the Tigers in the performance of the top order, notably opener Tamim Iqbal's dynamic century and in a five-wicket return for fast bowler Shahadat Hossain.

Bangladesh's overall Test record now stands at just three wins from 67 Tests but the pitch at Old Trafford also has a reputation for taking turn.

Bangladesh have several spinners in their side, although England off-break bowler Graeme Swann will want the pitch to stay true to form too. - AFP and AP