The 21-year-old right-hander, who has the tendency to be superb when on song but shows a terrible propensity to be unpredictable, recently spent two months in England to play for little known Rainhill Cricket Club when most of his colleagues had taken a break after a gruelling season.

When Ashraful went to England, many saw it as an opportunity for the talented batsman to sort out an inexplicable inconsistency marked by too many lows after one signature performance.

But after his appearances in Liverpool and the knowledge of the standard of the competition, it raised a few eyebrows despite the fact that he has a double century and a couple of tons to his credit.

Bangladesh team think-tank however defended the ace batsman's participation in the competition as they believe that playing a season in England is an experience that will heighten one's professionalism which ultimately culminates in a player being strong mentally.

The mind relaxes when one has little competition to face up to and that is not harmonious for a man like Ashraful who has played 68 one-day internationals and 33 Test matches, with a couple of hundreds.

The player himself however found no reason to take all these negatively and showed his confidence that he will get the result in the upcoming Africa tour.

"I agreed that the standard of the competition is not up to the mark and you can even brand it as holiday cricket. But I want to give importance on a Michael Holding comment. He told me that scoring runs in any level always helps a batsman. I met him in a programme where he also added that it could open a window for me," defended Ashraful.

"But whatever I say would not be acceptable until I score runs in Zimbabwe. I firmly believed that my batting form in the league would definitely help me overcome the lean patch.

"I not only enjoyed the cricket in Liverpool but also seriously practiced during my stay. The meeting with a local psychologist also played a part in my batting," he added.

Staying alone in an alien society, learning the cricketing culture at the home of cricket -- all this makes one a complete cricketer and Ashraful said that it was altogether a new experience for him.

"I had toured England previously with the national team but this visit was totally different. This time I got the opportunity to learn about a totally different society. Actually I was relaxed during my stay which helped to think positive about everything," said Ashraful, who will join the English club again after the African safari.

But his wish for a revisit to Rainhill must hinge on his performance in Zimbabwe and Kenya.