Bangladesh v England: Gareth Batty admits to nerves before first wicket
'It's what you dream about, even for the old fellas like me'
Friday 21 October 2016 20:35, UK
Gareth Batty admitted to suffering from nerves on his Test-match return for England, despite taking his first Test wicket in overs 11 years and 139 days.
Batty (1-51) took the key wicket of Tamim Iqbal, after the Bangladesh opener struck a composed 78 to help the hosts recover from being 29-2 following two wickets in one Moeen Ali over.
"I was pretty nervous," said Batty. "It's what you dream about. Even for the old fellas like me, but it was pretty nerve-racking.
"As the day went on though, I hope I got into my spells a bit better and bowled fractionally better."
"I was learning off Moeen. I thought his first introduction into the game was magnificent. They were jaffas, the balls that he took the wickets with.
"He bowled a great pace initially that I tried to adapt to. I tried to bowl a bit more direct - less air, less loop - and a fraction quicker.
"Their batsmen sit on the back foot a bit more than we're used to, so we were trying to draw them forward a bit more. That was hopefully the reason why I got my wicket."
Batty's wicket was one of two to fall in the final session - Ben Stokes getting the other, with Mushfiqur Rahim (48) caught behind - as Bangladesh closed on 221-5, still trailing by 72 runs.
"There were periods of the game where we could have held them a bit better," added Batty. "Myself included - I should have maybe gone for 40 today instead of 50.
"But they're very adept at playing spin on these surfaces and I thought their batsmen played quite beautifully for a while.
"It's a good cricket wicket but it's a slower pitch and you don't get the zip off the surface that you do back home. That's something we'll need to address.
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"But the seamers bowled magnificently tonight, getting the ball swinging, and if we start well in the morning, we know it's the sort of pitch where you can take two or three quick wickets.
"We need to make it difficult for them to score runs, as there are definitely wicket-taking balls in there. We need to be patient."
Live coverage on the first Test between Bangladesh and England continues with day three from 4.45am on Saturday, on Sky Sports 2.
