BAN Vs IRE; DAY 1: We are shy with the bat but getting two wickets tonight is huge – Tector

Ireland’s Harry Tector feels that his side has momentum after dismissing the Bangladesh openers by stumps on the opening day of the one-off Test in Dhaka while Tector was the only half-centurion in the Ireland innings as he scored 50 in Ireland’s 214.

Ireland’s Harry Tector feels that his side has momentum after dismissing the Bangladesh openers by stumps on the opening day of the one-off Test in Dhaka. 

Tamim opened the innings for the hosts after hurting his shoulder earlier while attempting to take a catch close to the boundary line.

“It was huge (the wicket of Tamim). It was unbelievable. I think it makes the day a bit more even. We are shy with the bat but getting two wickets tonight is huge,”

said Tector.

“It gives a lot of momentum for us tomorrow. I think that dismissal in particular, the way the ball spun and it is a good sign for us on this wicket.”

Tector was the only half-centurion in the Ireland innings as he scored 50 in Ireland’s 214. He was one of the seven Irish players to make their debuts in the ongoing Test. 

“It was pretty cool. We had a bit of a ceremony last night. There were seven of us, so presenting seven individual caps on the morning of day one would take a bit of time. It was really special,”

he said.

“I am the 22nd Test player for Ireland but I am something like the 706th player to play for Ireland overall. It is a very special achievement. We are a lucky group of players to play Test cricket.”

Tector stated that he was less anxious than he had been before making his white-ball cricket debut but admitted that he could have made his start count. 

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be. I was certainly more nervous when I was making my ODI and T20I debut. I have played a fair bit now so have a rough idea of what I am trying to do. I was more excited than nervous,”

said Tector.

“It is very different. I think in one sense it is a lot easier because there are a lot more gaps. You can hit the ball and get it away for four. But there are a lot of challenges in different fields. The ball does a bit more. I think this was only my 11th first-class game. I think I played one first-class game in the last four years. It certainly takes a lot of adjustment for a lot of us to shift back into red-ball cricket. Try not to hit the ball that loops up for a six and it is quite a challenge. You are trained to do that because you play so many T20s and one-day cricket and so big shift in mindset. We have to learn from today.

“It felt good for all of it until I got out. It was a poor decision in the shot I played, not so much a decent ball. I think if I defended that, it wouldn’t have got me out. A lot of learning to do across the board. I put on a good partnership with Curtis Campher. We thought we could certainly put up a good total. We probably were a bit shy of where we wanted to be with the bat,” he concluded.