Alastair Cook admitted that one of the worst collapses in England’s history could havelasting consequences after his side’s humiliating 108-run defeat.
England, whose next assignment is in India, slid from 100 for none to 164 all out on the third day in Dhaka — the first time they had lost all 10 wickets in a session since 1938.
Asked if the rapid demise might damage his team, Cook replied: ‘It could do. This is when we need to really stay strong as a group. We have to watch some of the guys and make sure we stay together.’
Only Cook, Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes reached double figures as England crumbled to the spin of Mehedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan to hand Bangladesh a share of the series.
And Cook was unable to sugar-coat the pill ahead of an Indian tour where they can expect to be tested even harder.
‘We showed our inexperience in these conditions,’ he said. ‘You lose a couple of wickets, then men come round the bat and the crowd get into it.
‘You know it doesn’t last for ever, but that half an hour to 40 minutes is crucial, and we just weren’t good enough to be able to get through it.’
The England captain was also critical of his spinners’ failure to tie down the Bangladeshi batsmen, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid and debutant slow left-armer Zafar Ansari conceding 4.5 runs an over during the game.
‘We don’t hold our length and line well enough,’ said Cook. ‘We bowl jaffas, but we’re easy to knock off strike and don’t build the kind of pressure we’d like.’
England fly to Mumbai on Wednesday for a break before heading for Rajkot on November 6, three days before the first of five Tests against India.
Cook said: ‘We go to India as pretty heavy underdogs... but sometimes English people like being underdogs.’
Daily Mail