A Test in Mirpur: the big review

Dave Sihra (Dave Meets Ball - Substack)

On Wednesday in Game Two, Ireland have a rare chance to potentially level a test series however do they have enough in this squad to solve the problems presented last week at Sylhet?

While the football world is consumed with World Cup qualifiers, it’s sadly time to move away from Troy Parrott goal videos and possible playoff opponents even if I do strongly feel Parrott could do a job to get you wickets late on Day Five.

How will Ireland approach Mirpur? Their loss by an innings and 47 runs showed the distance between the two sides and their respective abilities to make use of conditions, however the visitors now have a rare shot in a second test to possibly level the series.

Zimbabwe, who we’ve beaten in back to back test matches, managed to tie their test series against Bangladesh earlier this year. But they achieved this by pulling off a surprise win to edge the first test by three wickets. Zimbabwe then went down by an innings and 106 in the second at Mirpur.

The Chevrons also managed to tie a two-test series here in 2018, but again they went the same path taking a win at Sylhet before going down in the second at Mirpur.
Notably, a year before that series, Zimbabwe even managed to seriously push Sri Lanka in a one-off test at Colombo - eventually losing by four wickets. That successful fourth innings chase of 388 in 2017 is still the home side’s highest in test cricket.

If Ireland were to match some of these efforts, first things first we’d have to find more runs. Different parts of our batting clicked last week, just not all together or when defeat was inevitable in the case of Andy McBrine’s fifth half-century.

Then if we managed to build some first innings runs, that could provide the requisite scoreboard pressure to help us achieve the second part: ask more questions with the ball.

Matthew Humphreys, with his flash new hair band, looked better and better the more he bowled and appeared able to bowl economically over decent periods. Accuracy is key in Asia for your spinners and slight lapses in length did hurt us whenever pressure built. A Ravindra Jadeja, Noman Ali or Prabath Jayasuriya are partly so dangerous because they won’t give an inch when the batters start to sweat.

Barry McCarthy’s seam looked dangerous in bursts when he could move the ball while Craig Young seemed to struggle with the Sylhet surface. Management will probably rotate, with half an eye on the T20Is starting Thursday week. Graham Hume also has bowled in an Asian test and will know the brief.

Jordan Neill wasn’t quite able to make an impact with the ball, but his runs were vital. He was bowling on debut with a kookaburra ball in Bangladesh, so some understanding is needed with his key skill.

Railway Union quick Liam McCarthy could come in to provide an enforcer role which he did notably during Emerging Ireland’s 2-0 win against West Indies Academy in 2024. McCarthy was also able to bowl long spells when Tom Mayes went down with injury during the series at Comber.

A slight lack of spin however presented a major issue last week at Sylhet. Bangladesh went three spinners and two quicks while Ireland went two and three. They got some off-spin overs out of the 6ft 2 Harry Tector, but you would have expected much more considering his good form bowling this year for Ireland and the Leinster Lightning. A tall spinner in Asia on turning wickets is a massive advantage.

If Ireland can’t get extra overs out of Tector, the visitors will definitely need Gavin Hoey. The Pembroke leg-spinner bowled well in tandem with Liam McCarthy at that 2024 first-class game in Comber.

Hoey also captained on the Wolves tour of the UAE in April this year and bowled extremely well in the penultimate 50-over game of their tri-series - taking 4-24 against Afghanistan A in a must-win game.

Finally, the pitch. Last month in Mirpur during Bangladesh’s ODI series against West Indies, the home side opted for extremely dark pitches that turned appreciably with little to no grass. In Game Two having lost the first, the tourists famously used five spinners for their entire 50 overs (a world record) to tie the game and win in a Super Over.

Former Sri Lankan international Farvez Maharoof now broadcaster who worked on the match said, “I’ve covered a lot of games here, and for the first time, I have not seen a blade of grass. The soil is slightly moving even before the first ball is bowled, suggesting this will be on the slower side”.

Notably it wasn’t just the spinners who enjoyed it. West Indies medium pace bowler Justin Greaves also proved tricky to play with his cutters gripping. Some Curtis Campher overs could prove handy too in this case.

How would we approach such a pitch in the upcoming Mirpur test match? We just have the cards that we’re holding. It’s about how we use them.

Predicted XI: Andrew Balbirnie*, Paul Stirling, Cade Carmichael, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker, Andy McBrine, Liam McCarthy, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys

This article was originally published on Dave Sihra’s Substack: Dave Meets Ball