Cook and Duckett both delivered fifties but as their wickets fell, once again the England middle order collapsed utterly and let us down badly. On this occasion, the lower order batsmen were unable to undo the damage wreaked upon them by their hapless colleagues higher up the order.
Indeed, the quartet of Yorkshire batsmen could only muster a paltry nine runs between them! This will surely mean the end of Ballance's current test place - possibly for all time - as he has now had four consecutive failures.
Remove Ben Stoakes from this eleven and it looks a shambles.
Losing TEN WICKETS today, in a single session, to a third rate cricketing nation with ambitions of becoming second rate, is beyond disgraceful but the roots of the defeat go back to the borderline inept performances of the England spinners - it was not just the batsmen who let us down.
One must ask why Finn, a wayward fast bowler who rarely delivers reverse swing, was included in this selection - the decision was inexplicable. The imbalance of a team which fielded six left-handed batsmen is also inexplicable. As Asian pitches wear, the left-handers have a much tougher time against quality spin because of bowlers' footmarks on the pitch. So, why so many? Left-right batting combinations always make it more difficult for bowlers to establish a consistent line. There was no excuse whatsoever for including the out-of-form Gary Ballance in this eleven.
We must give credit to Bangladesh, however. They prepared two result pitches to play to the strength of their spinners, and the hugely impressive 18 year old, Mehedi Hassan, also Man of The Series, delivered an incredible 19 wicket haul over the two tests. Well done, young man! A great career awaits you.
Their first ever test victory over England - my warmest congratulations to the Bangladeshis for making history.
The problem for England now is that on the full tour of India, which is almost upon us, the England side will once again have to face a barrage of quality spin. The Indian selectors will be very aware of England's deficiencies. This test match does not bode well for that tour.
(Incidentally, the fact that 13/28 decisions by umpire Dharmasena were overturned on review - should surely foment some sort of investigation. He is scheduled to stand in the first two Indian Tests. Surely, this cannot be!)
