WASHED WHITE AFTER A FIGHT

After an impressive showing in the First Test, Bangladesh were back to their old self during the Second Test at Old Trafford, Manchester.

To be fair to them, they did put up a fighting opening partnership in the first innings... courtesy their new talisman Tamim Iqbal, but once that first wicket fell... it was a procession... a total collapse! Eventually, 20 wickets fell in 2 sessions... with all the English bowlers chipping in. England's 419 all out in the 1st innings eventually turned out to be sufficient for an innings and 80 runs win.

The Bangladesh team management must have been pleased with the fight shown... but also upset that the team went back into their old habit of collapsing without a fight all of a sudden... their 20 wickets fell for just 213 runs after a first wicket stand of 126. It's Tamim or nothing for Bangladesh, at the moment.

England will be quietly happy with their performance... though Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss will know that a lot of improvement is necessary if they are to have a chance of retaining the Ashes in Australia later this year.

With the Test series having ended, I am hoping for a good performance from Bangladesh even in the 3 match ODI series to be played later in July... maybe, even sneak in a victory.