THE LESSON to be learned is trust no one. A terror track, we were promised, a strip so rock-hard and fast that the ball would leave scorch marks on it and Matt Prior’s hands would be pulped like pieces of tenderised scrag-end. Bangladesh and their troupe of dinky spinners would be blasted away. Oh, the expectation of it.

So when Shahadat Hossain’s first ball of the match limped from the surface and finished down near the wicketkeeper’s ankles, it was clear things were not as they had seemed.

If there was one team that looked at home in Manchester it was Bangladesh, who loaded their side with spinners, watched their replacement pace bowler Shafiul Islam nip out Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott with the new ball and by late afternoon had the satisfaction of seeing the ball turning sharply.

These are familiar conditions for the visitors, and until Ian Bell and Prior began to dominate late in the day they had more than held their own.

England struggled, alleviated only by successive partnerships of 70 for the fourth and fifth wickets and an unbroken 52 for the sixth.

Batsmen were made to work hard. Kevin Pietersen made 64 as easily as anyone is likely to do in the game, before hurtling down the pitch and passing the ball on the way, while Bell played fluently and generally in untroubled fashion for his 87 before bad light took the players from the pitch.

But Eoin Morgan, given a real opportunity to show an aptitude for Test-match batting, restrained himself from any exotic excesses for an hour and a half, and made 37, to go with 44 from the first Test, before slicing Shahadat to gully where Jahurul Islam pulled off a spectacular catch. So nothing really learned there.

The close of play total of 275 for five represents a good day’s work for Bangladesh and a moderate one for England, although if the pitch deteriorates as it seems it might then batting first is a big advantage.

The cautionary tale, though, is to revisit The Oval last year, where a dry pitch puffed on the first day but did not get any worse.

This is going to be a proper test for England’s bowlers, especially Steven Finn, who in light of the publicity the Old Trafford pitches have been given (“almost too quick” was the Essex verdict recently) might have anticipated a bonanza. Now he may well have to cast his mind back to his Test matches in Chittagong and Dhaka for inspiration.

All is not lost, though, for one of the attributes that impressed the England management there was his ability to reverse-swing the old ball.

Meanwhile, there will be work for Graeme Swann, whose Test match at Lord’s was the first in which he has bowled poorly, with some especially harsh treatment (although he was not alone in this) from Tamim Iqbal.

Shahazad’s opening shots pricked the balloon.

Pitches, eh. The way this one responded may well have surprised Strauss and Alastair Cook as well, but for 10 overs, in which they added 44, there looked the possibility that both could go through the day.

Then, in the space of seven deliveries, Shafiul altered the complexion of things. Strauss pushed and was neatly pouched at second slip (they catch well, do Bangladesh), and then Trott, whose rhythm they were already trying to disrupt by halting when he was ready, received an off-cutter that found its way through a gate the size of the Brandenburg.

Guardian Service

Scoreboard

England won toss

England First Innings

A Strauss c Kayes b Shafiul 21

A Cook c Siddique b Razzak 29

J Trott b Shafiul 3

K Pietersen st Mushfiqur b Shakib 64

I Bell not out 70

E Morgan c Jahurul b Shahadat 37

M Prior not out 6

Extras (b6 lb4 w2 nb1) 13

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Total5 wkts (70.4 overs) 243

Fall of wickets:1-44, 2-48, 3-83, 4-153, 5-223.

To bat:Shahzad, Swann, Anderson, Finn.

Bowling:Shahadat Hossain 17-2-66-1, Shafiul Islam 13-2-35-2, Mahmudullah 7-1-15-0, Shakib Al Hasan 19-2-69-1, Abdur Razzak 14.4-2-48-1.