Bangladesh fury as umpiring decisions go in England's favour

Bangladesh were struggling to hide their fury over three umpiring errors that have undermined their chances of beating England in the second Test and pulling off their first home Test victory against major opposition. Jamie Siddons, Bangladesh's coach, demanded an impromptu meeting with the match referee, Jeff Crowe, as England's century-maker Ian Bell and two more major run-scorers, Matt Prior and Tim Bresnan, were all fortunate to receive umpiring decisions in their favour. All three batsmen would have been given out if a decision had gone to the umpiring decision review system, which is not being used in this series for financial and technological reasons. England finished the third day with some relief on 440 for eight, a vulnerable lead of only 21. Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain estimated that his side would have had a first-innings lead of 150 had the umpiring decisions fallen in their favour. "Matt Prior got 60-odd – he would have got out under 10, Bresnan would have got out under five and Bell was out in the eighties so they would have been 150 runs short," he said. "We would have been in a good position. "You guys have seen it on the TV. You know what was the decision and what should be the decision. On a wicket like this it is very hard to get someone out. Still everything is possible: win, draw, lost." Bangladesh, who have only beaten Zimbabwe at home after 10 years of Test cricket, have spent money on flowers to smarten up the Shere Bangla national stadium for the much-feted arrival of the ICC chairman, David Morgan, who has also been greeted by a lifesize poster in the team hotel. The expenditure on flowers might be comparably modest, but that did not stop Shakib agreeing that he would rather have the TV replays than the flowers. Morgan, who has endured a bleak winter in south Wales, has so far remained noncommittal about his preference. But Bangladesh's ire was not about to ruin Ian Bell's night. His 10th Test century finally broke the pattern where he had only hit a Test hundred after an England team-mate had already made one in the same innings – a statistic persistently used to accuse him of never putting his personal stamp on a game. His 138 in nearly seven hours was the culmination of a successful winter and he was honest about the challenge that he had to address. "I've put a few things to bed that I needed to," he said. "I can't say that the stat is unfair, because it's a stat, it's there. But it's something I believed that if I worked hard I could remove. I knew one of us in the top order needed to go out there and get a ton. It was physically difficult and it's nice to make a contribution when we needed it. The second session was as hot as we've had. "Consistency is what I've wanted to achieve. I look back on my career and I haven't backed up performances time after time. I'm desperate to carry on now, work hard and get more and more. This winter has gone well but I must keep moving forward and keep improving. "This Test they've batted well and bowled tidily. So it has felt like a proper Test match – a normal Test on the subcontinent. It was good, grafting Test cricket."