Views from afar

[IanW]

It's another cold morning in Canberra, and the news from Sabina Park is less than good.

Sarwan and Chanderpaul both cut loose, and with six and a bit sessions to play, Bangladesh have lost both openers and Saleh.

This game is no longer about winning and losing, it's now about respect.

It's not time to shut up shop - Bangladesh's batsmen wont bat five sessions playing that way.

The batsmen need to take the game twenty runs at a time ; if it's there, hit it, and if it isnt, defend.

It's about toughing it out, and showing that while the Tigers may lose, they wont lose meekly.

In my view, by batting so long, Lara took a chance with the weather - a lead of 200 should have been enough, but he batted on and on, and if Bangladesh hang tough, then the Caribbean weather may save Bangladesh.

But it's a matter of taking things in small chunks of time and runs. First you get to 50, then you play out the day, and see what tomorrow brings.

Once you get to tomorrow, then you keep batting, twenty runs at a time.

Thats all it's about now, keeping on batting, and putting together a respectable target.

Even if it's lost, by scoring better than they did in the first innings, Bangladesh will raise the bar for the next opponent.

Belief in your ability and respect from your opponents ; these are Bangladesh's medium term goals, and by making the West Indies fight for the win, they can take half a dozen steps to achieving both of them.