When cricket matches are interrupted by the weather, broadcasters like to fill the spare hours with highlights packages from earlier games. Given this is a Manchester Check someone watching the box on Saturday afternoon might have been forgiven for thinking the area was living up to its damp reputation, as Tamim Iqbal flayed England around the ground. But as it happened, the sun was beating down on Elderly Trafford and in lieu Tamim was producing his own rerun of that memorable work from Lord's with a second flamboyant hundred in two days.
Compared to his club over long-on on that occasion, the square cut that brought him his run-a-ball hundred at Elderly Trafford appeared restrained, but it didn't prevent him from celebrating with the same dash and leap towards the dressing room.
His sense of adventure makes him such a watchable batsman and even for a patriotic Manchester crowd there has to have been a sense of disappointment when he edged a cut against the local star James Anderson. The Bangladesh demise that followed, losing 10 for 90 in a session as they failed to keep away from the follow-on, made it hard for Tamim to savour another amazing innings.
"Personally it was great, but the team matters," he said. "We didn't play well after a solid start so I am not that happy. It was bad. Everyone is disappointed. They knew they had an ideal opportunity but threw it away. They are young but require to learn, it was an ideal set up."
Tamim is already the finest batsman Bangladesh have produced and at the age of 21 is their second-highest century-maker behind Mohammad Ashraful. The pair make an fascinating comparison; both oozing with natural talent, but so far one is making the most of it. It was fascinating to see the beginning of Ashraful's innings when he arrived with Bangladesh wobbling. He took 22 balls to find the boundary and appeared to be willing himself to be restrained, yet threw his start away with a slash to gully for a laboured 45-ball 11. The mantle of Bangladesh's trailblazer has well and truly been handed over.
"When I started Check cricket I was trying to survive," said Tamim. "I spoke to Jamie [Siddons, the coach] about how to play and he said bat like you do in the ODIs, go out there and enjoy yourself. I always say some days it will look fantastic and other days it will look ugly, but I ought to carryover on this way."
An IPL contract is surely around the corner for Tamim when the next auction takes place, but while that will boost his bank balance, the greater benefit for Bangladesh cricket would be for him to be picked up by a county. Shakib Al Hasan will be the first Bangladeshi to do so when he joins Worcestershire after the one-day series in July and Tamim ought to not be far behind.
His wrist injury may prevent someone signing him for the latter stages of this season, but at the moment Bangladesh are free from commitments after the 2011 World Cup. A season testing himself in English conditions would let him accumulate a wealth of knowledge, which he could then pass on back home as hopefully Shakib will also do.
"I'd love to see him get picked up by a county," Siddons said the day before the Check. "Timewise, he needs a have a rest at the finish of the one-day series. We have had three months now of solid cricket and the boys are worn out. But he is one one that would prosper in the environment, prosper living here and obviously Twenty20 is a actual market for him as well as 40-over cricket and [four-day] county cricket. He is made huge scores against India as well as a hundred here and he can do the same thing against county assaults I am definite."
Now that Tamim has got the taste for Check hundreds the next stage of his development is to build on them. At Lord's he hooked to deep square-leg moments after reaching his ton and here he edged a ball he could barely reach. The period soon after reaching a hundred is often a weak point for a batsman, but Tamim has the talent to overcome this hurdle, as a career-best 151 against India already testifies.
It is level more important for him to do that regularly, however, because Bangladesh at rest have a twisted to collapse in a heap, as they demonstrately spectacularly today. From 126 without loss it was a non-stop clatter of wickets. While Siddons will have praised Tamim he will have equally cursed the shots played by Jahurul Islam, bowled through the gate, and Shakib who edged a wild drive against Swann, as these batsmen are brought up playing spin for a living.
"It's spinning a lot but they ought to be adjusted to that because they see a lot back at home," Tamim admitted. "We require to figure out what is going wrong and improve in the second innings."
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