The Tigers played one series recently against the West Indies and drew one Test and had close finishes to the one-day series. There was applause all around and many in Bangladesh were ready to suggest that Bangladesh are no longer a push-over. Letters were published here in this column praising our Tigers forgetting that the West Indies in recent times have sunk to the utter depths of despair as a Test playing entity.

The reality is Bangladesh never was and never will be in the big league, given its present crop of cricketers; present format of competitive cricket played in the country and its present set of cricket administrators. We were ushered into Test arena not on the basis of our cricket playing ability but at the connivance of our cricket administrators of the time who in league with their counterparts, cricket politicians in the international arena, placed on our neck a weight that will pull not just our ability to play cricket down but also our reputation as a country. Some would say we will some day be able to stand on our two feet for with this Test status, we will gain the experience which will make us worthy as Test cricketers in not the too distant a future. All this may be good for arguing a case for continuing with this Test status. However, for a country that has such a great image problem, those amongst us who don't see any potential among our cricketers and thus see no light at the end of the tunnel and those who do not follow cricket at all, feel that the time is upon us to really decide whether or not to voluntarily keep this Test status we were given and not earned in abeyance till the time when our cricketers show more potential. We have to think of the country ahead of these cricketers who at best have enough potential comparable to a local club in England or a weak provincial side in India.

It has been yet another frustrating performance by our cricketers in Sri Lanka from which little solace can be taken. This once again leaves cricket pundits singing along for Bangladesh's demotion from Test status, and who would blame them?

Among all things, Dav Whatmore must come under his fair share of criticism. How would he justify picking three left arm spinners (Rafique, Razzaq and Manjural Islam) against India and ask Khaled Mahmud to open the bowling for us? I am surprised Mahmud got picked ahead of Mushfiqur Rahman. On a brighter side, Whatmore at least got his bowling combination right in the last match, playing Tareq Aziz and Tapash Baisya together.

The Bangladesh top order put up a poor show with their inability hang on in the first 15 over. They do not move their feet to the pitch of the ball, neither go forward nor backward, giving opposition slip fielders catching practice, or falling LBW. Captain Habibul Bashar's performance has been most disappointing, whereas he had been expected to lead from the front. In the end, Bangladesh failed to pass the 200 run mark or play out the entire 50 over (except for against the minnows Hong Kong). Besides the batting, the level of commitment, work effort, fitness and obviously the fielding must improve if Bangladesh are to prove that they are good enough to play international cricket.

Bangladesh's poor showing with the bat is largely the result of the poor domestic cricket structure. Experts have long insisted on the necessity of having 3\4 day first class cricket being played on proper pitches, but their words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Bangladeshi cricketers have long been referred to as "Tigers". However I believe that this way we do nothing but ridicule and disgrace the real tigers. No one has heard of a tiger going down without a fight but that exactly has been the "God Gifted" characteristic of our so called tigers of cricket.

Saimum Wahid, Uttara, Dhaka