Deference to English cricket has long since disappeared throughout most of the sub-continent, but not in Bangladesh. By agreeing to spank around some farcical declaration bowling just before lunch, and then declaring generously, Bangladesh A allowed England’s batsmen a longer time at the crease in their second innings than would otherwise have been possible.

With Bangladesh five wickets wickets down and only 88 ahead, England could — should — have tried to bowl them out. Instead, nine overs of lollipops from Alastair Cook and Michael Carberry produced enough runs — 195 of them, to be precise — that Bangladesh felt safe enough to declare.

The principal aim of this farce was to give those who failed in the first innings (Cook, Carberry and Kevin Pietersen) another chance to find some form before the first Test starts on Friday. Only Cook really made the most of this opportunity, batting for the afternoon session before retiring, but Carberry spent a little more time at the crease than he did in the first innings and Pietersen’s brief flurry suggested that he is not going to tiptoe his way out of his malaise.

Pietersen faced only 23 balls before he misread one of full length from Mohammad Ashraful, whose absence from the first Test squad was confirmed on Tuesday, and was bowled, sweeping. This was an improvement, though, in two respects: three boundaries, two of them rasping and one a mighty six down the ground, came in that time and Ashraful is a right-arm off spinner.

Inevitably, Pietersen did face some left-arm spin. He had faced only two balls when Mehrab Hossain Jr, the man who had dismissed him in the first innings, was brought on to bowl. He might as well have been wearing a red nose, such was the tittering that this move provoked in the press box. That, of course, is the issue for Pietersen to confront: there is a feeling that this once indestructible batsman has a flaw — and not any old flaw. When an elephant is afraid of ants, the schadenfreude is that much greater.

However, in Pietersen’s brief but aggressive response on Tuesday — Hossain bowled only one over before he was taken off — it was possible to gauge his state of mind, which has moved from concern and bafflement earlier in the week to one of anger. He is a better player when he is looking to dismantle bowlers and if Bangladesh’s left-armers are expecting some easy prey during the Test series, they are mistaken. Pietersen may fall, but he intends to inflict damage on some bowling figures along the way.

Pietersen’s lack of form may impinge upon England’s selection, though, because they are still unsure of whether to play five or six batsmen, which is why they were so keen to give Carberry another outing. He played some authoritative strokes square of the wicket in a breezy 35 before edging Ashraful to short leg.

There are tricky decisions ahead for England. Stuart Broad looks increasingly likely to start because he bowled nine overs in practice on Tuesday, six at lunchtime and three during the tea break. Graham Onions is less hopeful — his back is sore and stiff. With Broad coming back from injury, though, two seam bowlers would represent an unacceptable risk, so there is a chance for Steven Finn, who was the best of the seam bowlers, to partner Tim Bresnan in a five-man attack. If that is the case, Carberry will miss out and Ian Bell or Jonathan Trott will open.

Andy Flower declared himself happy that England had got enough out of the match, but it was an unsatisfactory affair. It lost its first-class status halfway through and needed some of the filthiest bowling from Cook and Carberry that has been seen in an England match to give the touring team’s players the practice they craved. The declaration bowling recalled a bygone age of three-day county cricket, but at least then it helped to produce a run chase and a positive conclusion.

England had no intention of chasing a target here. After tea Bresnan, who played nicely, and James Tredwell were promoted in a rejigged batting line-up, but neither was good enough to see off the Bangladeshi spinners, of whom Noor Hossain, the leg spinner with a snappy wrist action, was the best. With an hour to go the match was promptly called off; everyone had lost the will to go on.

Bangladesh A
First Innings 202 (Raqibul Hasan 107 not out; J C Tredwell 6 for 95)
Second Innings (overnight 131-3)
Raqibul Hasan b Finn 51
*Mohammad Ashraful b Shahzad 30
†Saghir Hossain retired out 51
Shuvagoto Hom not out 91
Dolar Mahmud not out 66
Extras (b 1, lb 6, nb 2) 9
Total (6 wkts dec, 76 overs) 362
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-49, 3-102, 4-145, 5-160.
Bowling: Bresnan 13-2-20-0; Shahzad 9-3-20-1; Plunkett 10-2-33-0; Finn 11-5-20-1; Tredwell 20-6-57-2; Pietersen 4-0-16-1; Cook 5-0-111-0; Carberry 4-0-78-0.

England XI:
First Innings 281-7 dec (I J L Trott 101, M J Prior 73 not out)
Second Innings
*A N Cook retired out 42
M A Carberry c sub b Ashraful 35
K P Pietersen b Ashraful 20
T T Bresnan c Mahmud b Ashraful 36
J C Tredwell b Noor 11
I R Bell not out 21
I J L Trott not out 7
Extras (lb 7, w 3, nb 3) 13
Total (5 wkts, 52 overs) 185
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-87, 3-124, 4-153, 5-161.
Bowling: Mahmud 5-1-14-0; Alam 3-0-29-0; Ashraful 21-3-76-3; Robiul 7-2-15-0; Mehrab 1-0-7-0; Noor 14-3-36-1; Rahman 1-0-1-0.
Players per side: 12 (11 batting, 11 fielding).
Umpires: Mahfuzur Rahman and Sharfuddoula.