New Zealand A vs Bangladesh A Match #1 Recap
It can only get better from here, right?
There was a perverse comfort in watching New Zealand A (NZA) collapse to 4/13 within seven overs yesterday, as Rhys Mariu was the only top-five batter not to score a duck. It was familiar, almost nostalgic; a throwback to the Bad Old Days when such collapses were New Zealand cricket’s bread and butter. There’s safety in the devil you know, after all. When we won 3-0 in India last November, it broke the sport for a second, shattering all preconceived notions. This was more like it; an indication that everything is as it should be, in a world where that feeling is increasingly rare. Yes, it was a calamity, and that’s how it’s supposed to go when New Zealand bats in Asia.
Let’s rewind an hour. In hindsight, captain Nick Kelly would love a redo. Between his nine-ball duck, some odd selection calls, and the decision to bat first, he’d probably be the first to admit he had a shocker. I’m not sure what the theory was for batting first—runs on the board, presumably—but the side clearly misread the conditions, which offered ample new ball assistance for an experienced Bangladeshi attack. By the time Kelly walked to the crease at 3/6 in the fourth over, he had probably figured that out, but the damage was done.
On the selection front, Ashok, Heaphy, Carter, and Foulkes were the four to miss the playing XI from the 15-man squad, which I found a confusing configuration. It didn’t end up mattering, with far too few runs to defend, but the bowling attack looked poorly balanced. Had the match gone the full 50 overs, we would have needed to find 20 part-time overs from Foxcroft, Abbas, and Clarkson, which seemed like a stretch. Batting Foxcroft at eight, nominally a front-line spinner, was particularly strange, given he’s batted at three in prior appearances for New Zealand and NZA, and regularly bats at four for Otago. Going forward, I imagine Foxcroft will move up the order following his standout innings, allowing Ashok or Foulkes to strengthen the bowling.
That brings us to the match itself, having avoided it long enough. If you missed the game, you can catch the highlights here, though that comes with a strong CONTENT WARNING if you’re a New Zealand fan. The toss was our only win of the day, as, on the field, NZA were never in the contest. The match looked like exactly what it was: a Bangladesh A XI comprised wholly of capped internationals playing in familiar conditions utterly dominated an inexperienced NZA side, never allowing them a foothold in the game.
It was a classy, professional performance from Bangladesh A, whose bowling attack boasted 56 combined Tests and 97 ODIs. In particular, Shoriful Islam and Khaled Ahmed were a cut above, hitting a consistently testing length and extracting significant movement with the new ball. Dale Phillips had little clue how to handle this opening assault and was duly the first to depart, LBW to Shoriful. Phillips took a big step down the wicket and across outside his off-stump, resembling a less-dramatic Steve Smith. He was attempting to negate the swing and work the ball through midwicket. However, it looked like he lost his off-stump in the process, and his head fell away, leaving Phillips trapped plumb for an eight-ball duck.
Matt Boyle entered next, contributing a nervy three-ball duck. After playing and missing the first ball of Khaled’s over by a significant margin, Boyle was out LBW the following delivery as the ball shaped back in. It was a quality delivery, but met by an ugly flick across the line from Boyle, who was late on the ball to the point that it was unclear precisely what shot he was playing. On replay, I’m sure Boyle would acknowledge that ball needed to be played in the V while it was still swinging. Boyle should learn a lot from his brief stay about how to start an innings at the next level up—he looked unsettled from the get-go and will need to find a way to counteract that and get into his work.
Mohammad Abbas came and went in the same over for a two-ball duck, the collapse now well underway. Abbas can count himself slightly unlucky, caught behind to a peach. Abbas could have arguably left the ball, but that’s harsh. He was drawn into the shot as the ball angled in before shaping away, leaving Abbas few options but to play the ball and hope he missed. He didn’t, and Nurul Hasan pouched an easy catch.
Between dismissals, Rhys Mariu was the only batter to look comfortable during this new ball burst. My preview mentioned that Mariu was firmly in the mix to earn a Test call-up given his strong first-class record, averaging 60. He did his chances little harm, proving his class in Test-like conditions against international bowlers with the new ball moving and wickets tumbling around him. At 3/6, he hit a beautiful cover drive for four, then relied on a Williamson-esque dab to third as a release shot to get off strike. A few times, Mariu played and missed at cover drives on an ~eighth stump line, which he could clean up, but otherwise showed good judgement outside off-stump and a compact defence, looking several classes above the other NZA top order batters.
Nick Kelly was up next, but struggled to lay bat on ball during his nine-ball duck. Ultimately, Shoriful sent Kelly’s off-stump cartwheeling after Kelly left a massive gap between bat and pad. It was an excellent delivery and a clever set up—the previous ball swung away, while the dismissal angled back in—but an unsightly shot and technique from Kelly, who will want to avoid seeing too many replays.
Josh Clarkson was next in the procession, stabilising the innings ever so slightly from 4/13 to 5/48—sadly, NZA’s second-best partnership. Clarkson was dropped early from a thick outside edge, at which point he became the first NZA batter other than Mariu to score a run. He added a boundary shortly after, through square leg off a low full toss, but like most NZA batters, Clarkson never looked comfortable. If it wasn’t already clear, Clarkson’s dismissal should have made it apparent that this wouldn’t be NZA’s day. You could argue Clarkson was unlucky, feathering behind to a lazy pull down the leg side, but that ball that should have ended up 30 rows back in the stands.
At the other end, Mariu brought out an array of sweeps against the spin of Tanvir Islam. Mariu showed the full range of sweeps, manipulating the field to hit boundaries off the reverse, paddle, and square sweep within a few overs. In fact, 28 of Mariu’s 42 runs were hit behind square. Notably, that includes half of Mariu’s singles (4/8), which were scored with the dab to third man, underscoring the apparent influence, whether conscious or subtle, of Kane Williamson on his game. I’ve never held Mariu’s hands, but I’d wager they’re soft.
Unfortunately, Mariu appeared to get overconfident with this run of boundaries, losing his wicket to a rush of blood. At 5/58, 18.3 overs into the innings, he came dancing down the track to Tanvir, attempting to hit the ball over wide mid off, but missing it by a mile and getting stumped easily. Given the match scenario and the success and control Mariu had demonstrated when sweeping, it was a rash, unnecessary shot. With more than 30 overs left and not much batting remaining, Mariu needed to play the situation and take the game deeper. Hell, no one would blame him for using the next 30 overs as an open wicket practice, given the dire scenario. Instead, in true modern cricketing style, Mariu seemed keen to reapply pressure to the Bangladeshi bowlers. That’s fine in theory, but his shot selection—trying to hit inside out over wide long off—was questionable at best. You learn as much from failure as success, so from a developmental perspective, Mariu should take a lot from this innings, particularly his dismissal. Surviving that fierce new ball spell and showing an array of sweeps against spin in Asia are both big ticks. However, he’ll feel like he threw it away, and should learn a lesson about constructing an innings and going on with it at the next level up.
Foxcroft joined Mitch Hay next, though their partnership was equally short-lived. Hay was dismissed two overs after Mariu, LBW trying to sweep Tanvir. It was a marginal decision, so he can count himself slightly unlucky, though he could have executed the shot better, too. While I wouldn’t call the decision a howler, to my eye, the ball looked to be turning slightly past off stump. Judging by his quizzical facial expression, Hay agreed. However, with no DRS in this series, he had to depart.
Kristian Clarke came and went in a blink, losing his off-bail first ball to the perfect leg spinner’s delivery, turning past the outside edge to hit the top of off. Clarke didn’t initially realise the ball had hit his stumps and appeared bemused about why he was being given out, even seeming to ask Foxcroft what happened as he walked off. For a man with some batting talent, averaging 23 in first-class cricket, it was an odd dismissal, turned borderline farcical by his confused reaction.
At 8/62, NZA were long odds even to crack 100. Thankfully, Foxcroft managed to give the score at least an air of credibility, scoring 72 (64). Foxcroft hit six fours and four sixes, peppering mid on and midwicket in particular, with 38 of his 72 runs coming through these regions. When NZA last played, against Australia A back in 2023, Foxcroft spent the majority of the series batting at three, scoring 53 (116) in a win in McKay and 97 (150) as NZA chased 365 in Christchurch. He proved the demotion to number eight was far too low, batting smartly with the tail and shepherding the strike ably, while finding regular boundaries against Tanvir and Ebadot. Foxcroft and Lennox added 23, the third-best partnership of the innings, before Foxcroft and Lister saved the best for last, adding 63. Given the match situation, it was an excellent effort from Foxcroft to give the bowlers something to defend, taking the score to 147 before finally being caught behind trying to hook Ebadot. To be ultra-critical, the shot wasn’t on as the ball seemed to get big on Foxcroft, but he was swinging at almost everything by that point, showing little faith in Lister’s ability to hang around.
In reply, the chase was never in doubt. Bangladesh A got off to a fast start, then kept its foot on the throat. They scored 13 off Ben Lister’s first over as he struggled to find his length, bowling a bit of everything in search of early wickets and finishing with an expensive return of 0/40 off five overs. At the other end, Kristian Clarke was more threatening, dismissing both Bangladeshi openers, caught by Lennox and Foxcroft respectively, to finish with figures of 2/30 off five overs. Mohammad Abbas was the only other NZA seamer to see the bowling crease, delivering three expensive overs for 21 runs.
In the spin department, Jayden Lennox delayed the inevitable for a while with his left-arm orthodox, finishing with an economical return of 0/32 off 8.2 overs. Foxcroft backed up his standout batting effort with a strong bowling return, to be NZA’s shining light from this fixture. Foxcroft dismissed Anamul Haque, caught by Clarke, while returning overall figures of 1/26 off six overs. All told, it took Bangladesh A only 27.2 overs to chase 147 and secure victory.
So, where to from here? Well, the good news is that things can only improve, as it could scarcely get worse than 4/13 (touch wood, I’m sorry if we’re bowled out for 12 in the next game). At the risk of sounding like the most clichéd head coach ever, they should take plenty of lessons from this defeat. With the next two List A fixtures and the first unofficial Test also being played in Sylhet, the side should be more acclimated to conditions going forward, which will be a helpful starting point. Hopefully, they also learn from their decision to bat first and read the conditions better in future outings. More broadly, this was many players’ first time playing outside New Zealand in senior cricket, having last had the opportunity at their respective U19 World Cups. As such, they should be better and more assured for the experience.
Selectorially, I presume the plan was to give everyone an opportunity throughout the tour, regardless. However, the batting disaster will likely force changes. I would be shocked if Foxcroft doesn’t earn a promotion to three or four after his innings, while Carter and Heaphy could both come into consideration to reinforce the batting. With five batters scoring ducks, it’s hard to pinpoint who should be dropped, but Mariu and Foxcroft should be safe, likewise Kelly and Hay as captain and wicketkeeper, leaving Phillips, Boyle, Abbas, and Clarkson in the firing line. With Foxcroft moving up the order, either Ashok or Foulkes should come in to strengthen the bowling, while Lister may be in trouble after an expensive outing.
Overall, as disappointing as this performance was, the primary goal of an A tour is player development, not necessarily winning (though I would say that, given we lost). More than a third of the squad are 23 or younger, while in opposition, Bangladesh A named an all-international XI, with some players featuring in Test cricket as recently as two weeks ago. On paper, this tour was always going to be challenging, so it’s essential to focus on the processes as much as the outcomes, as unsavoury as the latter was.
On that note, if there was a perverse comfort to the disastrous way NZA started this series, it would be equally in character to follow up a batting calamity with a gritty, unforeseen fightback in the following game. Let’s hope so, as the series continues on Wednesday.