da spicy bet： New Zealand’s opening batsman, Mark Richardson, has laid into the standard of opposition provided by Bangladesh during their recently concluded tour
da heads bet： Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2005
Mark Richardson: not a happy tourist© Getty Images
New Zealand’s opening batsman, Mark Richardson, has laid into the standardof opposition provided by Bangladesh during their recently concluded tour,and warns that a “slap in the face” awaits his team as they arrive inAustralia for a two-Test series later this month.As befits one of the most attritional openers in the game, Richardson hasspent most of the tour advocating a patient approach to the Bangladeshichallenge, but in his latest column for the New Zealand Herald, hehas finally let rip. “It’s time to get the hell out of Bangladesh,” hedeclared, after watching his side squeak to a nervy three-wicket win inthe second one-day international. “You can only maintain your standardsfor so long … [we have slipped] right back to club level.”It was a measure of the New Zealanders’ lack of enthusiasm at the end ofthe series that Richardson – a notoriously sluggish runner – couldn’t evenbring himself to compete in his now-traditional sprint-off against theslowest member of the opposition. “I could have won,” he reflected, “givenmy length-of-stride advantage.” Somewhattongue-in-cheek, he added that the only positive he could take out of thefour-week visit was the chance to stock up on pirated DVDs from the localmarkets.The first Test against Australia starts at Brisbane on November 18, andRichardson is genuinely concerned for the competitiveness of his team,after their recent uninspired efforts. “Your time in the middle againsttwo dribbly seamers and three left-arm spinners will mean spit againstfour quicks and a leggy,” he stressed. “And average bowling will not bagyou four wickets for bugger all.”Richardson, who did not play in the one-day series, endured a lean timewith the bat in the Tests, scoring just 43 runs in two innings. “The onlyway you can view this Bangladesh series is as the launching pad into achallenging summer of cricket,” he added. “[But it’s been] made only morechallenging by the lack of quality of the launching pad.”It is not only New Zealand whose performances have suffered after a tripto Bangladesh. This time last year, England were the visitors, but afterfive trouble-free victories out of five, they flew across the Bay ofBengal to Sri Lanka … where they were bundled out for 88 in the firstone-day game at Dambulla.”For those who have scored runs or taken wickets there will be thesatisfying feeling of having boosted the averages, but I doubt how manywill feel they have gained much as a cricketer,” added Richardson. “Youcan bet your bottom dollar that the boys are itching to get on the planeto Oz.”
