Bangladesh deserved their elevation to full Test status, according to their cricket community – despite their nightmarish start, in which they have lost all but one of their first 11 Tests. "The situation would have been the same if Test status had come four or five years later," Raquibul Hasan, a former national captain, told AFP. "We had to start one day, and so we got it in the year 2000 as part of the International Cricket Council's [ICC] globalisation programme."

Raquibul felt that Bangladesh needed some time to improve under highly skilled professional guidance. Granted Test status on June 26, 2000, Bangladesh played their inaugural Test against India at Dhaka in November 2001. Since then they have played 11 matches against India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and New Zealand. They have lost all of them, except one against Zimbabwe that was ruined by the weather.

But its not been all bad news for Bangladesh. Aminul Islam, Mohammed Ashraful and Habibul Basher have all scored Test hundreds, and there have been five-wicket hauls from Mohammad Sharif and former captain Naimur Rahman.

The national team is currently preparing for a series of two Tests and three one-dayers in Sri Lanka in July. "We Bangladeshis are often labelled as being emotional, but questioning our Test status is very negative," said one fan. Another said that cricket was unpredictable, and pointed to New Zealand's recent massive defeat against Pakistan as an example that even successful teams can do badly.

"We had to start somewhere. Had we been given Test status earlier we might have achieved something in the last five years," said Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, a veteran cricket organiser and a director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). "We played only one-day cricket at home till we got Test status. First-class domestic cricket began only after 2000."

He blames Bangladesh's poor performance on a lack of professionalism among the game's administrators, and the absence of well-equipped gymnasiums and practice facilities. The national side does have a new coach – the former Pakistan fast bowler Mohsin Kamal – after Trevor Chappell's contract was not renewed.

Bangladeshis argue that all new Test-playing nations suffered similar results when their turn came to pad up against the big boys. They are confident of the future, saying there is "time, scope and opportunity" to develop the national team. "Practice makes a man perfect," said a philosophical fan. "More matches, more practice – and Bangladesh will one day outshine many."

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd