Nothing irks Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore more than having his young team written off as unfit to play Test cricket, so when Channel 4'sMike Atherton did just that after their innings loss at Lord's, the gritty Australian had a quiet word.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference for Friday's 2nd Test at the Riverside, Whatmore spoke about his "polite disagreement" with the former England captain.

"I did have a few words with Athers," he said. "We've known each other for quite a while and he told me he felt he had to ask the question [about Bangladesh Test status]." Whatmore paused for effect, before adding defiantly: "I don't know what he expected the answer to be!"

The answer, when it came, would certainly have been to the point and would have contained few words much longer than one syllable. Whatmore is not known as a word-mincer and his loyalty to his side is absolute.

He does have a point. Bangladesh were blown away at Lord's, but the odds were stacked against them. England were near the top of their game and Bangladesh were playing in unfamiliar swinging conditions, on a first pressure-laden visit to the home of cricket. Therefore, some sympathy should be accorded them.

Their performances over the past couple of years under Whatmore indicate they are on a gradual trajectory of improvement and did not do themselves justice at Lord's. Under Whatmore, on away tours, they have scored 295 against Australia, nearly beaten Pakistan and earned an honourable draw against the West Indies. They also beat Zimbabwe at home earlier this year.

In a sense this is their hardest tour of all because English conditions are the most alien to them, and they will not be getting any easier at Chester le Street, where Durham have been bowling sides out twice for low scores all season on seaming pitches.

"I've told the team that it will get worse at the Riverside," said Whatmore, cheery optimism noticeable by its absence. "Given the pitch and the weather we are expecting it could be harder for our batsmen to negotiate than Lord's was."

This sounds almost comically downbeat from a coach whose side have just lost by an innings and 261 runs, but it is merely realistic. It is asking an enormous amount of young players to cope with unfamiliar conditions on top of adjusting quickly to Test cricket. One of the few who looked like he might be starting to cope was 16-year-old Mushfiqur Rahim, though he may miss the game at Durham.

"This morning he fell down the narrow staircase at our hotel and sprained his ankle. It's iced up but he is a doubt," said Whatmore, smirking at the absurdity of the injury. Bangladesh have bolstered their 12 from Lord's by including Tapash Baisya, an odd choice as he too has a sore Achilles tendon which must also pass a fitness test.

England go into the Test with an unchanged squad of 12, and hoping to give Andrew Flintoff as much bowling as possible to et some overs into his legs.

They will be looking to better their near-clinical performance at Lord's by avoiding the scrappy opening overs on the first morning.

Captain Michael Vaughan made the same remarks as he had before the 1st Test about "potential banana skins", "the need for ruthlessness" and avoiding complacency, before paying rich tribute to Graham Thorpe, who will become the eighth England man to play 100 Test matches.

"Anyone reaching 100 Tests is getting to near-legendary status and he deserves that accolade. Whenever I've been sitting there on the balcony thinking we really need someone to stick their hand up he's often been the one, whether it's been in Barbados or at Trent Bridge."

And Vaughan added, his dry wit in evidence: "He's averaged over 50 for the past two years, which is not too bad for someone, as I keep reading, whose eyes are going."

If that was the captain's little message for the assembled media, Vaughan's England could send another little message out to the Australian side which arrives here this weekend. A second cold-hearted crushing of Bangladesh would suggest a hard-nosed ruthlessness to match Australia's.

England: MP Vaughan, ME Trescothick, AJ Strauss, IR Bell, GP Thorpe, A Flintoff, GO Jones, GJ Batty, SP Jones, MJ Hoggard, SJ Harmison.

Bangladesh (from): Habibul Bashar (capt), Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Shahadat Hossain, Nafees Iqbal, Anwar Monir, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza.

2 Jun, 2005