Chris Woakes might not have his name in bright lights like some of his country’s superstars, but his true value may be realized as England pursues its maiden global ODI trophy without him

George Dobell02-Jun-2017Like a safety harness or parachute, there are some things you appreciate more in their absence. So it may prove with Chris Woakes. While he rarely gains the headlines of Ben Stokes or Joe Root, he has developed into a valuable – if slightly unsung – player in this England ODI side.The plan in this ICC Champions Trophy was for him to take the new ball and bowl at the death, perhaps the two most difficult requirements for bowlers in modern ODI cricket. While he is still learning his trade in both departments, his pace, skill and calm head under pressure render him a valuable player. Replacing him is far from easy.It’s not just the bowling either. Coming in at No. 8, Woakes offers reassuring stability in the lower middle-order. His unbeaten 95 against Sri Lanka 12 months ago was the highest score by a No. 8 in the history of ODI cricket. He did something similar when England subsided to 124 for 6 in Antigua in March by striking an unbeaten 68 to help his side to a four-wicket win. His absence increases pressure just a little on those above him. It’s as if their safety net has been removed and for a team encouraged to play fearless, aggressive cricket, that could be relevant.England have a few replacement options as seamers. While it looks as if they will resist the temptation of returning to Stuart Broad, whose role in the Test team renders him more valuable than ever, it means the strongest contenders are Steven Finn, Tom Curran and Toby Roland-Jones. Curran is uncapped at international level and Roland-Jones has one cap after making his debut on May 29 against South Africa. It means that Finn, who has already played 69 ODIs and was the third fastest England bowler to 100 ODI wickets, could be the most likely one to gain.Curran can probably count himself unfortunate if that is the case. He was seen as the next in line by the selectors a week or so ago. But when they were looking to change the side for the final ODI against South Africa, they noted that he had bowled heavily for Surrey in the preceding days and decided to opt for Roland-Jones instead. Reece Topley would have been an option, too, had he played a little more cricket since he returned from a shoulder injury sustained in January.It may well be that David Willey is the primary beneficiary of Woakes’ injury. If England are looking to replace Woakes’ all-round package, rather than just his bowling, it may well be that they draft Willey into the starting XI in the hope that he can show some of the batting ability that seen him hit two List A centuries and another in T20 cricket at domestic level.However, there has not been much sign of that form in Willey’s international career to date. His top score in ODI cricket, where he comes in much lower down the order, is just 26 and though there is a limited sample size to judge him as an international batsman, an ODI batting average of 15.75 and strike-rate of 69.61 compare poorly to Woakes’ 25.00 and 86.86 respectively.Willey may have a point to prove with the ball too. There have been times when, armed with a new ball and generating swing, he has looked a dangerous bowler in ODIs. At his best, he might be just the man to take those key early wickets than can shape games. But for that to be the case, he has to make the ball swing and in the limited evidence seen in this tournament to date – and in Willey’s performance in the ODI against South Africa at Lord’s – it seems unlikely to do so. Otherwise on these surfaces and at his pace, he could be in for some long afternoons.On the plus side though, Willey’s left-arm variation might be an asset. At present, the England pace attack appears to be an assembly line of right-arm seamers, with one replacing another.There have been mutterings from some – mainly on social media – that the injuries to Woakes and Stokes may have been partially attributable to their experience in the IPL. There’s no evidence to support that view, though. Injuries are part and parcel of a seamer’s life and both men may have been used more heavily had they remained in county cricket. It was noticeable in the press conference after Friday’s match between Australia and New Zealand that some journalists thought the rustiness of the Australian seamers might have been due to their absence from the IPL. Sometimes it seems team management cannot win whatever they do.England did receive some better injury news on Friday. They believe Root’s apparent calf injury in the victory over Bangladesh was nothing more than cramp and insist he is not a fitness concern going into the match against New Zealand on Tuesday.They won’t have Woakes, though. And that is a significant blow to their hopes of lifting a first global ODI trophy.

As India’s expanded backroom, with specialist coaches, takes charge for the Sri Lanka tour, we look at five instances when international cricketers benefitted from such coaching

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2017Steve O’Keefe bowled Australia to a famous win over India in Pune after a session with Sridharan Sriram•Associated PressSridharan Sriram’s role in Steven O’Keefe’s match-winning spell, 2017A month before their tour of India, Australia appointed former India allrounder Sridharan Sriram as their spin bowling consultant for the Test series. Sriram had been with Australia’s A teams before, during which time he had worked with Steven O’Keefe. After bowling a few overs before lunch on day two of the first Test in Pune, O’Keefe told Sriram that he needed to have a bowl with him in the centre. What happened next is history, as O’Keefe ended with match figures of 12 for 70, bundling India out on home turf in three days. As expected, he singled out Sriram for praise, calling him “a big influence, who knows how to bowl in these conditions”.Sanjay Bangar’s influence on the Indian cricket team, 2017Bangar has been credited by India’s batsmen and bowlers alike during his stint with the team. First, Umesh Yadav thanked him for assistance with his run-up, saying, “Sanjay told me that you were running faster to get that extra pace, affecting my line and length. He told me to enjoy your running so you would have better control”. More recently, Virat Kohli spoke about specialised throwdowns from Bangar and Raghu, the team’s throwdown specialist, at speeds of 145-150 kph. Ahead of the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, Kohli said, “the preparations we have got are exactly like a match scenario, and a lot of credit goes to them. On a personal level, I can say that it’s because of these two that the last two years I have had whatever improvements in my batting”Saqlain Mushtaq’s coaching came in for high praise from Moeen Ali, following the latter’s maiden Test 10-wicket haul•AFPMoeen Ali dedicates his Lord’s ten-for to Saqlain Mushtaq, 2017After picking up his first ten-for in Test cricket, Moeen dedicated it to Saqlain, who was part of England’s coaching set-up in 2016. “I learnt a lot [in the winter] speaking to Saqi. It made things a lot clearer for myself and I’d like to dedicate this to him”, he said after doing the 2000 runs – 100 wickets double in the same match.Mark Ramprakash gets a thumbs-up from Joe Root, 2016Root came out of a rare lean patch by smashing a career-best 254 against Pakistan last year. After the game, he admitted to being “really wound up”, frustrated by a series of single-digit scores, and thanked Ramprakash, England’s batting coach. Ramprakash had asked him if he was “mentally in the right place to play Test cricket at the minute”, after coming to a conclusion that Root’s game looked in “good order”. Root said that the comment first hurt him, then made him think about it, and ended up boosting his confidence.Michael di Venuto’s advice draws Steven Smith’s praiseDi Venuto’s fabled line – “Smudge, you’re not out of form, you’re just out of runs” – was cited by Smith as among the biggest reasons for his extended purple patch between 2014 and 2015. Smith went on to hammer nearly 1500 runs in the next 12 Tests at a remarkable average of 77.84. Speaking to later, di Venuto admitted that it was a “bluff from my playing days when I wasn’t scoring anything but feeling alright in the nets”. With Smith’s preparations on point, di Venuto elaborated that “part of the thing with that comment is to stop the player from worrying about my hands, my head, my feet, other things about my batting, other than just going out there, backing your skills, watching the balls and making good decisions.”

From playing as a travelling gun for hire in local tournaments and sharpening his technique in the IPL and first-class cricket, Hardik Pandya has now slammed his first hundred in official cricket – straight in Tests

Sidharth Monga in Pallekele13-Aug-20173:54

Dasgupta: Only Hardik can score a century with the tail

In a recent interview with , Stephen Fleming, one of the most successful coaches in franchise T20 cricket, envisaged a future for cricket in which kids will grow up learning T20 and then be taught the finer skills of first-class cricket at more senior levels. On a quiet unsuspecting Sunday in the outskirts of Kandy, that generation announced its arrival. In an exhibition of unencumbered six-hitting, Hardik Pandya might have provided us a brief glimpse into at least part of what the future holds.Pandya came to Test cricket with no century in official cricket, one first-class five-for and 17 matches for experience. He made his debut in Twenty20 cricket, and was first noticed when he represented Mumbai Indians in the IPL. To their credit, Indian cricket took notice, saw the potential and went on Project Pandya. They saw he could hit, they saw he could bowl, and then they left him with Rahul Dravid to learn the finer aspects on A tours.Dravid and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad were particularly impressed with him when he scored 79 after walking in at 46 for 6 for India A against Australia A in Brisbane. He was given proper chin music by Jackson Bird, Kane Richardson and Chad Sayers, but he showed he could hang in with them. Pandya learnt from Dravid there was no such thing as “natural game”, that he had to play according to the situation, that he had to manage risk, that he could play, in other words, first-class cricket. He was fast-tracked into the Test squad, and might have played at home against England had he not got injured in the nets.This was just fine-tuning, though. What Pandya had already, was allowed to remain. The spirit to bowl as fast as he can and the big, clean hitting developed playing as a travelling gun for hire in local tournaments in Gujarat where you got paid for these T20 skills. If he and his brother Krunal wouldn’t get paid, they wouldn’t have the petrol to drive the car, which was beyond their means but they wouldn’t let go off as a matter of “pride”.At Mumbai Indians, the hitting technique got refined. With the advent of league cricket, hitting sixes has become more scientific than is given credit for. On skills days they spent hours doing range hitting, just trying to hit balls out of the ground. Players now understand where power comes from. Pandya doesn’t have bulging biceps, but he knows how to hit big sixes. As Fleming said, players understand “the main parts of the body that need to be activated” for these big hits.Pandya came in to bat with India in some strife at 322 for 6. There was no Ravindra Jadeja in the side either. So Pandya played the game that he used to impress the A team until he lost Kuldeep Yadav, the No. 9. With the last two men for company, though, he went from 38 off 54 to 108 off 96 despite all the singles he turned down to farm the strike.Hardik Pandya first caught the eye with his big sixes for Mumbai Indians in the IPL•BCCIThe second phase of his innings was reminiscent of the 43-ball 76 he scored at The Oval in the Champions Trophy final. According to ESPNcricinfo’s data, he was in control of every shot he played in that innings, an almost freakish stat over a 43-ball knock. Pandya’s control in this mad rush after Kuldeep’s fall was an impressive 83.33%, that is five balls every over when trying to farm the strike and looking to play what is traditionally high-risk cricket.For an exhilarating spell of play, it was remarkably scientific and calm in nature. This was efficient hitting. Not once did he appear to be slogging across the line. He had his areas marked. If Lakshan Sandakan pitched it wide of those areas, trying to make him drag the ball and hence introduce an element of slogging, Pandya kept leaving him alone. Only once did he commit too early, but then he went over wide long-off in the most impressive of his seven sixes.There was a time when Dinesh Chandimal sent all nine men back on the fence. Pandya’s belief in his technique was so unflinching, it didn’t matter where the fielders were. This is a technique honed under the best T20 specialists, in the presence of hitters such as Kieron Pollard. Somebody more used to Test cricket might have looked to pick up twos, but Pandya perhaps sees more risk in going for that than the sixes.As he started looking for sixes against everything in his swinging zone, Pandya tore the textbook and threw it in our faces. “You need experience.” “You need to know how to get to hundreds.” “You need to know the rhythms of Test cricket.” “Nothing.” Here was a man swaggering his way to his first hundred in official cricket, straight at Test level, with his team in a bother, and seemingly without a worry in the world.We have seen predominantly Test players do well in T20s before, but we might just be entering the new bold era of players brought up on T20 doing well in Tests. It might not necessarily be successful enough. Even if it is successful, it won’t necessarily be an erosion of traditional values of Test cricket, just careful Test training before T20 players are introduced to it.

The spin of the coin seems to have a particularly big effect on the way Test matches pan out at this venue. Here are the stats to demonstrate it

Bharath Seervi25-Jul-201717-6 – Sri Lanka’s win-loss record in Galle, in 29 Tests. Their win-loss ratio of 2.83 is their second-best at any home venue. Their scoring rate of 3.28 is their best at any home venue.9 – Number of wins for Sri Lanka in Galle since 2010, in 14 matches – they’ve lost three and drawn two. At all their other home venues in this period, they have won only seven game in 22 Tests. They have won each of their last four Galle Tests.

Venue Mts Won Lost Draw W/L ratioGalle 14 9 3 2 3.00All other home venues 22 7 7 8 1.0011-1 Sri Lanka’s win-loss record in Galle after winning the toss. They have won the toss 16 times and the only defeat came against Pakistan way back in 2000. They have a 6-5 record after losing the toss. They had elected to bat first in 15 of the 16 Tests after winning the toss. After losing the toss, only four times were they asked to bat first and they lost only one of those Tests.12-3 Win-loss record of teams batting first in last 10 years in Galle, in 18 Tests. In 24 of the 29 Galle Tests teams have elected to bat first and only five of those resulted in a defeat. Incidentally, four of those defeats were for the visiting teams.3-1 India’s win-loss record in Galle. Their only win here was in 2008. They have lost all the three Tests they’ve lost the toss in; in that solitary win, they had won the toss.99 The highest successful chase in Galle. Thirteen times a target of more than 100 has been set in Galle and 11 of those chases resulted in defeat.5 Man-of-the-Match awards for Rangana Herath in Galle, in 16 Tests. In 65 Tests outside Galle, he has only five such awards. He has 93 wickets in Galle, the most at any venue. If he takes seven more wickets here, he will become only the second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to take over 100 Test wickets at a single venue.62.45 Dinesh Chandimal’s average in Galle. In 14 innings here, he has scored 687 runs with three centuries. Both his top scores have come in Galle – 162 not out against India, and 151 against West Indies. Sri Lanka will miss his services this time around as he is ruled out due to pneumonia.

Rohit Sharma now has three ODI double centuries. If the reactions to his superlative knock are anything to go by, a triple hundred is not out of his reach.

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2017

Way to go my friend. Always a joy to watch you bat @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/wAhZr5t0ZB

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 13, 2017

What an innings Hitman , quite unreal. Many congratulations on the 3rd ODI double. 3 alone out of a total 7 ODI double hundred's. Take a bow @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/RzZKzoEwnt

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 13, 2017

The man of double hundreds @ImRo45 You beauty ! World class brothaman

— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) December 13, 2017

Wah Rohit Wah ! 35 balls for the second hundred. So proud of you Rohit Sharma ! pic.twitter.com/EPWGZ2qcaG

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) December 13, 2017

Not one, not two but three double centuries in ODI cricket. You made batting look easy and simple in this innings, @ImRo45. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep them coming always.#IndvsSri #BCCI pic.twitter.com/yrb2chCK8U

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) December 13, 2017

Absolutely unbelievable batting by @ImRo45 …take a bow skipper..

— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) December 13, 2017

Wow @ImRo45 ! What a serious knock. #INDvSL

— Martin Guptill (@Martyguptill) December 13, 2017

@ImRo45 wow weeeeee!!!

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) December 13, 2017

Only man to score three 200s in ODI. Can easily be the first man to score a 300. No one hits the ball cleaner… #RohitSharma #IndvSL

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 13, 2017

Does not need any of the modern innovative shots to get these double hundreds , Rohit Sharma. Devastating yet so classical. #INDvSL #RohitSharma

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 13, 2017

@ImRo45 .slaughter,slaughter,slaughter.Three double hundreds an Amazing achievement. I am sure in the near future he will be the first one to get 300 agree or disagree

— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) December 13, 2017

Colin de Grandhomme also blasted the second fastest Test century by a New Zealand batsman, with all of his runs coming in the third session in Wellington

Shiva Jayaraman02-Dec-2017Colin de Grandhomme notched up his maiden Test hundred in just 71 balls in New Zealand’s first innings against West Indies in Wellington. His knock is the second-fastest hundred for New Zealand in Tests and one of the fastest in the format. Brendon McCullum had hit a century off just 54 deliveries against Australia in Christchurch in 2016, which is also the fastest ever in terms of deliveries faced by a batsman.ESPNcricinfo LtdDe Grandhomme’s hundred is the fastest recorded innings for a maiden Test hundred. He broke a record which had stood for over a hundred years: England’s Gilbert Jessop had made his maiden – and only – Test hundred in 76 deliveries at the Oval in 1902.

De Grandhomme came in to bat just after tea and clobbered 105 runs off 74 balls he faced, in the process becoming only the sixth New Zealand batsman to make 100 or more runs in a single session in Tests. The previous New Zealand batsman to do so was Daniel Vettori, who hit 127 runs between tea and close of play in Harare in 2005-06.

Grandhomme’s strike rate of 141.89 in this innings is the sixth-highest in Test history (where balls faced information is available). The other New Zealand batsmen collectively scored 323 runs at a strike rate of just 46.08. This difference in strike rates between him and the other New Zealand batsmen of 95.81 is the fifth-highest for any batsman scoring 100 or more runs in a Test innings.

Ten men have coached Bangladesh over the last two decades

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2018Steve Rhodes, the former England wicketkeeper, is Graphic: Steve Rhodes is all set to become Bangladesh’s 11th coach in the past two decades•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Stats about Virat Kohli’s recent Test form and how he compares against other visiting batsmen in Australia

Bharath Seervi16-Dec-201825 – Centuries for Virat Kohli in Tests, in 127 innings. Only Sir Don Bradman (in 68 innings) had completed 25 hundreds in fewer innings. Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar had taken 130 and 138 innings respectively. Kohli is the 21st batsman to register 25 or more centuries in Test cricket, and the fourth from India.ESPNcricinfo Ltd6 – Hundreds by Kohli in Tests in Australia in just 19 innings. Only two visiting batsmen have scored more: nine centuries by Jack Hobbs in 45 innings and seven by Wally Hammond in 35 innings. Herbert Sutcliffe and Tendulkar also scored six centuries each.0 – Visiting batsmen to have averaged higher in Australia since 1990 than Kohli, with a minimum of 15 innings. He averaged over 63 when he crossed 100 in this innings. Only one other batsman has averaged over 50 in this period – Tendulkar (53.20). Overall, Kohli’s average is the fifth-best for any batsman with over 15 innings in Australia and the best by any Asian batsman.10 – Centuries for Kohli in Australia, South Africa and England combined, in just 49 innings. Among Asian batsmen, only Tendulkar has more – 15 hundreds in 96 innings. December 2011 onwards, all other India batsmen combined have scored only 10 centuries.34 – Centuries as captain for Kohli across International formats – the second-most. He went past Graeme Smith who had 33 centuries as captain. Now only Ricky Ponting has more – 41 hundreds. As captain, Kohli has scored 18 centuries in Tests and 16 in ODIs.4 – Venues in Australia where Kohli has scored centuries – three in Adelaide, and one each in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Brisbane is the only one among Australia’s prominent venues where Kohli is yet to score a hundred. Tendulkar also scored centuries at these same four venues in his career.

West Indies haven’t won an ODI series since August 2014. Can they end their barren run against a resurgent Bangladesh side?

Mohammad Isam in Dhaka08-Dec-2018The two teams playing in the last ODI series of 2018 have much left to do, even if it is just three matches. For Bangladesh, it will be an opportunity to finish another strong calendar year in this format, particularly since their resurrection in 2015. Their opponents in the three-match ODI series starting on Sunday are West Indies who are looking for a break from their 50-over woes of the last five years, which forced them to play the World Cup qualifier this year.Bangladesh’s win percentage of 64.71 is the third-best by any team this year, behind England and India. It is nearly as good as their resurgent 2015 when they won 72.22% of their matches and were behind only Australia’s 78.95%.The only two blemishes this year for Bangladesh, according to their ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza, have been the two losses in finals: against Sri Lanka in the January tri-series at home and the Asia Cup final against India.”We have a high win percentage this year barring the two tournament finals,” Mashrafe said on the eve of the series-opener in Dhaka. “It would have been ideal to win the Asia Cup final. We would like to finish the year well, especially given the challenges early next year. We have more chances to win when all departments click together, especially our batting. A lot depends on how this wicket behaves; if it helps the batsmen, it will be challenging for the bowlers. Judging the wicket would be important.”The progress Bangladesh have made as an ODI side is apparent when you compare their current numbers with how they did between 2010 and 2014. During that period, they were among the bottom five teams in terms of win-loss ratio (0.59) and win percentage (36.14%). Since the start of 2015, they have been among the top five in both counts: 1.29 and 53.45%.Compared to Bangladesh, West Indies’ form has run in the opposite direction, with their win percentage going from 40.40 in the 2010-2014 period to 27.27 since the start of 2015. They haven’t won an ODI series since since August 25, 2014, when they beat Bangladesh at home.Rovman Powell, West Indies’ stand-in captain, believes he has seen signs of progress during their ODI series in India where they won one and tied another match in the five-match series.”It is true that we haven’t won an ODI series in a long time,” Powell said. “The guys are upbeat and raring to go. No better opportunity to change it [than] in Bangladesh. We have played some lovely cricket in India but we didn’t get the results that we wanted. A few series before the World Cup, it will be good to get the series win under our belt. It will give us confidence going into the World Cup also.”Perhaps West Indies need to take a leaf or two out of Bangladesh’s formula of greater stability by trusting a core group of senior players, while at the same time giving some of the younger players sustained opportunities to succeed and fail, so that at some point they become consistent performers. Bangladesh haven’t been entirely lucky finding those young players, but Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan and, to some extent, Soumya Sarkar have been success stories in the last four years.For starters, West Indies must ask more of their senior batsmen like Marlon Samuels, Kieran Powell and the returning Darren Bravo to give them good starts and ensure younger players like Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope can bat around them.Bangladesh, meanwhile, will hope that their five senior players continue to lead in their individual areas, and let the likes of Mustafizur, Mehidy and Soumya thrive with an open mind.

The team relies on using their batsmen and spinners to win Test matches, and that trend seeps into domestic cricket as well. How can a seamer improve in this scenario?

Mohammad Isam02-Nov-2018Bangladesh have picked four pace bowlers for the first Test against Zimbabwe. Mustafizur Rahman is the leader of the attack while Abu Jayed was their best seamer in their last Test series; Shafiul Islam has been around for eight years. The uncapped Khaled Ahmed is fresh off a first-class ten-wicket haul.But during the pre-match press conference, captain Mahmudullah said he might pick only one pace bowler in the XI. In that case, the three who would sit out will also miss the NCL’s last round, meaning they would out of first-class cricket at least till mid-February.In a culture where winning at home overrules everything, playing on slow and low pitches which rapidly break up as the game progresses suits Bangladesh. They want quick runs from No 1 to 7, and then two or three spinners to dismantle batting line-ups. They have done this to Australia, England and Zimbabwe in the last four years. Offered similar conditions in Colombo last year, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka too to win their 100th Test.However, this gameplan is having a poor effect on their pace bowlers. They don’t get much of a chase in domestic cricket either, whether it is the four-day or one-day format.On Thursday, head coach Steve Rhodes indicated that Bangladesh should address its lack of Test success away from home, pointing out how the batsmen struggle against fast bowling, and their own seamers have difficulty maintaining long spells even in helpful conditions.Bowling coach Courtney Walsh believes that to help the pace bowlers do better overseas, they must first be given a fair go.”It is an area of concern but if you look at it, we haven’t played a lot of Tests this year,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I doubt if any bowler has played all those Test matches, maybe with the exception of Fizz. So there’s no continuity. There are different conditions and you need couple of Tests to get yourself to season in. As I keep saying, they need to play more.Courtney Walsh chats with Bangladesh seamers Kamrul Islam, Subashis Roy and Taskin Ahmed•AFP”What is happening in the NCL will definitely help their growth in Test cricket. They get a chance to bowl in the NCL. Some of the guys are not accustomed to bowling long spells. It is obviously an area of concern because I would like to have Test match bowlers that we can work with.”Robiul Islam was Bangladesh’s last pace bowler to deliver a match-winning performance. He was Player of the Series against Zimbabwe in 2013 but faded away quickly due to lack of fitness. Some say that the success got to his head while others point towards the team management’s lack of patience with a precocious talent. Not many in Bangladesh can move the ball like Robiul.Since 2015, considered a good period in Bangladesh cricket, they have had the worst pace attack in the world: a combined average of 53.8 and strike-rate of 90.71. During the same period, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan average in the mid-30s while South Africa, India, Australia and England are in the top four.Bangladesh have played two out of their four Tests in 2018 at home, so the quicks haven’t had that much of a workout. They average 33.7 while the other teams (barring Zimbabwe and Afghanistan) altogether average of 24.84. Of course, it is the strike-rate that hurts them the most, and at 69.21, having played one Test in Antigua where the West Indies fast bowlers ran riot, it has been another disappointing year.It is a different story in ODIs. Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur and Rubel Hossain have helped win many 50-over games since 2015, and they have continued that trend this year too. Among teams that have played at least 10 ODIs in 2018, Bangladesh have the fourth-best strike-rate and average. Their good work has lifted morale in the dressing room giving Mashrafe the confidence that they can do well in the World Cup next May.Mashrafe Mortaza finds something interesting to look at•AFPWalsh says this has a lot to do with the consistency with which they bowl, and the consistency with which they have been picked. In 2014, Mashrafe made it a mandate to use three pacers even in home ODIs, and that has helped develop a strong attack.”I think they are bowling more consistently,” Walsh said. “They have been working very, very hard. They are also consistently playing together. They have developed that understanding which you can only get by playing in the middle. I give credit to the bowlers for the work they have put in but they have to go to the middle and perform.”I am happy and satisfied but there are still areas to improve in, especially with the World Cup in mind. We are doing okay but I still think we can do a lot better. For Bangladesh to have the lowest strike-rate and average, it speaks volumes of the guys.”But there is one problem. Bangladesh haven’t really looked beyond Mashrafe, Mustafizur and Rubel.Jayed and Abu Hider are seen as the next best options currently, but neither has enough international games. Mohammad Saifuddin offered a bit of variety against Zimbabwe last month but his control is still not considered up to the mark. Taskin Ahmed has been in poor form and has injury concerns. Al-Amin Hossain hasn’t really been pulled into representative sides recently. Robiul has been out of the scene for four years.There have been murmurs among Bangladesh’s team management that their pace bowlers are more interested in short-form success and less interested about what happens in Test cricket.After losing 2-0 in South Africa in 2017, Mushfiqur Rahim blasted his seamers for their lack of consistency, which made sure they couldn’t exploit helpful pitches. Singling them out like that probably wouldn’t make them change, but it is learnt that Walsh has been very hands-on in their development and Mashrafe has repeatedly said how big a help the legendary West Indies quick has been.Bangladesh know that fast bowling is important. Placing emphasis on it is how they’ve become a force in one-day cricket. So can they not do the same in Tests? Can they not break away from the spin-it-to-win-it plan and give their up-and-coming seamers some care and attention?One day, perhaps.