With its mass of people, billowing industrial smoke and constant noise, Chittagong is not a city for pilgrims in search of peace. But it was the place where England attempted yesterday to put their World Cup campaign back on an even keel.
Eoin Morgan practised for the first time since joining the squad, Chris Tremlett was confirmed as the replacement for Stuart Broad and the rejigged party forgot the disruption of the previous two days to focus on the game against Bangladesh under lights tomorrow.
If all results fall as England hope, and form suggests that they will, they will be able to fly back to Madras (Chennai) on Saturday morning with their place in the quarter-finals secured and the names of Broad and Kevin Pietersen well and truly beyond the radar.
Morgan acknowledged that the two injured players would be “a big loss”, but pointed to the impact of those coming into the Ashes team to emphasise that all is far from lost. Tremlett is a case in point, having taken 17 wickets in the last three Tests when he deputised for Broad.
As for Morgan, the next few weeks present a chance he thought had disappeared when he was told that he needed an operation on the finger he broke in Adelaide on Australia Day in January. The diagnosis proved erroneous and his feeling of excitement at being here is shared by the team at having him back.
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Even such a confident personality and inventive batsman faces a huge challenge to find form immediately. He spent little time in the nets in a fortnight of pre-season training at Middlesex, when the emphasis was on physical work. But he knows Bangladesh well from three previous visits, and saved England from defeat in Dhaka with a hundred this time last year.
“I feel ready,” he said. “The finger has healed nicely and I feel fresh rather than undercooked. I always bring the same things to the team. I have made some match-winning contributions and look to do so in this tournament.”
This is Morgan’s second World Cup. Four years ago he went to the Caribbean as Ireland’s big hope, but although the team surpassed expectations, his own return of 93 runs was disappointing. “Throughout that, I said that I wanted to play for England,” Morgan said. “That has been the bigger picture and bigger plan, so it is a dream come true to be here now.”
After a period of more than a year in which he established himself as the leading one-day batsman, Morgan fell to earth in Australia. Suddenly the reverse hits that caused opposition captains such problems in setting fields were going to hand, the drives that soared over straight boundaries were falling short.
Andy Flower, the team director, believes that Morgan’s problem stemmed from being in the Ashes squad without playing. “He had been hitting the ball superbly at the start of the tour and was a strong contender for a place,” Flower said. “I remember watching him at Perth and he looked as good as he has ever looked.
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“As the tour goes on it becomes tricky for batsmen not in the hurly-burly of competition to keep sharp. Then you are thrown into the pressure of one-day games, get a couple of good balls and make a couple of mistakes and you are perceived as being in terrible form.”
Morgan played the fifth and sixth games of the series with the broken finger. “It is difficult when you want to play so much and it does not feel as though anything is wrong,” Morgan said. “I did not see any need to stop, but it got progressively worse to a point where I was not able to grip the bat.”
He made his highest score of the series, 30, the only time he batted in his favoured No 5 position. Flower hinted that he will fill that spot again. “It is my favourite place to bat,” Morgan said. “I find coming in for the middle overs, being a left-hander and playing spin is one of the better parts of my game.”