There are a few things in life that are really not worth the effort: explaining what you’re giggling about at the back of class, telling drunk blokes to “just leave it” and playing Bangladesh at anything.
God alone knows what the Bangers have been up to since they were allowed into top-echelon international cricket, but setting up academies, scouting for talent and employing good coaches don’t seem to be three of them.
The evidence is in the national team, which today got flattened by eight wickets in Darwin, in front of a few unimpressed schoolchildren. The Aussie team were probably looking for some kind of pre-India workout, but they may as well have all turned up carrying fishing rods and a box of tackle. Bangladesh mustered a feeble 117, while opener Shaun Marsh got 69, Shane Watson managed a few without sustaining his usual injury and the crowd of underaged cricket fans wondered if it could get its money back.