David Leggat: Collingwood line could be just what is needed

When Bangladesh head home to prepare for the arrival of England, we should all wish them well and hope they give the Old Dart a serious touch up.

Why? Well apart from wanting to see a likeable bunch do well in front of their own people as they look to advance in the international game, there's what might be called the Paul Collingwood factor.

Every now and then you hear a remark which makes you wonder what's going on up top. You cringe and feel strongly inclined to cross your fingers and cheer like mad for the underdog.

So when the senior England batsman was talking of ways to pass the time in Bangladesh he alighted on golf.

"It won't be easy to find a golf course in Bangladesh - if there is one, they'll probably have wooden clubs," he said.

It's exactly the sort of prat-line, with that unmistakable whiff of the old colonial days, which gets right up sub-continental noses.

Collingwood probably thought he was being funny. He wasn't, displaying instead ignorance and arrogance in equal measure.

So Bangladesh's coach Jamie Siddons could do a lot worse than pin up Collingwood's smart-alec line on the dressing room wall when that series starts on February 28. Before that they have a test in Hamilton next week.

On the evidence thus far you wouldn't give them much hope of a victory.

They have produced pockets of spirited cricket - with the best collective effort coming in Thursday night's final ODI in Christchurch when, just briefly, there was a flicker of hope that they might give sloppy New Zealand a bloody nose.

As Siddons and captain Shakib al Hasan have pointed out, it has taken Bangladesh time to get a feel for the conditions in New Zealand, which are as different as you could find to those back in Dhaka and Chittagong.

There was no time for any warmup games. That's the modern way with the crush of commitments.

Most teams get by, some barely, although it's not ideal. Bangladesh are one team who need every bit of quality practice time they can get.

So what did the ODI series teach us about New Zealand ahead of the test, and looming ever larger, the Australian tour here to follow?

Two new players were road tested.

Peter Ingram had one good score, 69 on one-day debut and a couple of starts without going on. While much has been made of a technique with which Ingram seems to be batting in a telephone box, it works for him.

He has a test debut next week, then the Australians arrive. A small, ahem, step up.

Andy McKay offered a fresh line of thinking, a lively left armer who had two decent days and one ordinary against Bangladesh. Again, a test place beckons next week.

The difficulty with assessing what shape New Zealand are in ahead of the transatasman challenge is that Bangladesh have not asked enough searching questions of their opponents.

So several questions surround the New Zealand team before their seven one-day games against Australia. Like ...

* Will Ingram prosper against Johnson, Bollinger and co?

* Does Neil Broom's maiden ODI half century in his 18th match suggest a corner turned for the aggressive middle order batsman?

* And can McKay bring something different to trouble Australia's top order?

These and many more lie ahead of the big ticket item of the summer.