ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2014

Bangladesh in 2013/14 Glimpses of a more competitive Bangladesh Test side were seen at times during 2013 and 2014, but as ever their Test appearances were too infrequent for a clear pattern of form to emerge. A two-match series with Zimbabwe in April 2013 featured one decisive victory for either side, and a well-contested drawn series with New Zealand in October saw Bangladesh at their best. But then it was back to the ‘old’ Bangladesh, as they conceded 730 and 587 in a two-match series against Sri Lanka early in 2014 (though to their credit the Bangladeshi batsmen were comfortably able to save the draw in the latter match), and suffered two heavy losses in the West Indies in September. The outcome was that, even with the addition of Zimbabwe to the lists, Bangladesh remained throughout firmly at the foot of the ICC rankings. South Zone were the winners of the second season of the Bangladesh Cricket League, beating North Zone in the final aided by a double-century from Imrul Kayes. The National Cricket League title went to Dhaka Division; at the other end of the table, Barisal Division went winless for the second season in a row. In a frequently high-scoring season, pride of place must go to the innings of Rajshahi Division against Chittagong Division in the NCL in April 2014, in which they recovered from 77-6 to reach 675-9 declared with the aid - uniquely in all first-class cricket - of innings of 150 and above from each of batsmen numbers 7, 8 and 9. One of these three, Farhad Reza, ended as the season’s second-highest runscorer with 793 runs, without ever batting higher than number 7. The only man to outscore him was Mominul Haque (Chittagong), with 1072 runs at 76.57, while the leading wicket-taker was slow left-armer Taijul Islam (Rajshahi), with 55 wickets at 22.70. (KSW) National Cricket League 2013/14: Final table P W WLF L LWF D DWF BatBP BowBP Pts 17 16 0 1 3 4 1 Dhaka Division 7 4 1 1 0 0 1 24 21 133 2 Rajshahi Division 7 3 1 0 0 1 2 15 18 111 3 Rangpur Division 7 3 0 1 0 2 1 13 18 92 4 Khulna Division 7 2 0 1 0 2 2 17 19 84 5 Sylhet Division 7 2 0 3 1 1 0 9 20 67 6 Chittagong Division 7 1 1 3 0 1 1 5 19 64 7 Dhaka Metropolis 7 1 0 3 1 0 2 13 21 60 8 Barisal Division 7 0 0 4 1 2 0 10 14 31 Bangladesh Cricket League 2013/14: Final table P W WLF L LWF D DWF BatBP BowBP Pts 17 16 0 1 3 4 1 North Zone 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 10 8 54 2 South Zone 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 10 9 41 3 Central Zone 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 7 7 34 4 East Zone 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 5 9 18 FINAL: South Zone beat North Zone by 213 runs. 73