This Sporting Life

Bangladesh are my favourite cricket team. Whilst it may seem odd that I do not support my own national team, there's something about Bangladesh that I find utterly compelling. Australia, as well as being a bunch of arseholes, are completely boring. There's nothing about their style of play I find appealing, and nothing about their personal attributes I find appealing either. Bangladesh, on the other hand are utterly charming. Anyone who knows a little bit about cricket will be aware that Bangladesh do not win many games. Now the reason I have such an affection for a team of perpetual losers goes beyond just sympathy for the underdog, or liberal guilt towards an impoverished country. You see, Bangladesh aren't just your everyday poor players, they are in fact blessed with extraordinary natural talent. Players such as Mohammad Ashraful, Tamim Iqbal, and (especially) Aftab Ahmed are some of the most beautiful and technically correct batsman currently playing the game. When they get it right they are glorious to watch, quite frankly they look as good or better than any of the game's superstars. And this is what I find so fascinating about Bangladesh; it's their inability to turn this natural talent and obvious skill into consistently good performances. This is a team that occasionally look like they are deserving to be playing against the top teams in the world, but more frequently make the errors of amateur schoolboys. Their occasional victories are tarnished by their seemingly impulsive desire towards self-sabotage. It almost seems like they are purposely trying to lose. To be truly honest about this, I identify with them. I kind of feel like that a fairly decent analogy can be made between the way Bangladesh play cricket and the way I live my life. We both have a good degree of potential, yet neither of us seem able to implement these abilities in any consistent or purposeful way.