The Test that isn't much of a test

It's depressing to have to return to such a well-trodden argument, but what we have seen at Lord's over the past two days hasn't been the international-class fare that the description "Test match" suggests. That innings defeat by Sussex confirmed what everyone suspected: Bangladesh were going to be in dead trouble when they came up against the full England team.

And what trouble.They narrowly avoided being submerged in two days, on a pretty good pitch which offered a bit of bounce and a little seam movement. The Riverside's juicy pitch next week could be a different story, and a two-day finish is a worryingly high possibility up there.

To return to a tub previously thumped, another problem is that there is no tension out there - nothing resembling that knot in the stomach as a vital stand is built, a half-chance goes down, or a teasing spell of bowling finally produces an elusive wicket.

International sport is supposed to be a contest - that's where that evocative word "Test" comes from in the first place. The spectators are supposed to care what happens. That hasn't been the case in this match: it didn't matter much when Andrew Strauss was out, unless you were a member of his immediate family, because there was no way that England weren't going to make a huge total, and then bowl Bangladesh out again.

All this will encourage yet more talk of stripping Bangladesh of their Test status, and it's increasingly difficult to argue against it. Quite what good repeated hammerings are supposed to do isn't obvious (build character? send the poor players shrieking to the shrink?), while what is clear is that, contrary to expectations, the players aren't learning much from the experience. Alec Stewart, immaculately dressed as ever and now up in the Channel 4 commentary box, could hardly contain his disdain as batsman after batsman swished airily as defeat loomed large. The bowling, apart from bursts from Mashrafe Mortaza and the steady spin of Mohammad Rafique, wasn't threatening, and the fielding was strangely geriatric for a team with an average age in the low twenties.

It's not really good enough for Bangladesh to plead inexperience any more, even if their side is commendably young (16-year-old Mushfiqur Rahim looks the best of the lot). They have been playing Test cricket for almost five years, and should have sorted out the wheat - specifically the ones who can play the rising ball - from the chaff by now. Barring an unexpected three-day monsoon this will be Bangladesh's 32nd defeat in 37 Tests, and their solitary victory came against a terribly weak and callow Zimbabwe side.

So what is the ICC to do? A second division of Test cricket isn't a very enticing prospect, especially for spectators, but then neither is a diet of repeated hidings. This match isn't so much one-sided as no-sided: England have so far averaged 176 runs per wicket, and Bangladesh 15.2. Perhaps it is indeed time for a second tier, with teams like Bangladesh, ZImbabwe (whose own recent two-day defeat by South Africa was even less of a contest) and Kenya bolstered by A-team tours and instructional visits from the big boys. It's undoubtedly a step back, but it might be a humane one.