Australia launch 20-test year in Top End against depleted Bangladesh

Test cricket returns to Australia’s tropical Top End for the first time since 2003 when the hosts face Bangladesh in a two-match series starting Thursday.

The series opener at Marrara Stadium in Darwin marks Bangladesh’s first test tour Down Under in over two decades and kicks off a 12-month period of at least 20 test matches for the Aussies including tours of world test champion South Africa, India and England.

Australia’s so-called Big Four bowling attack is set to be reunited in Darwin with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon returning from injuries.

Pace bowlers Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and offspinner Lyon have been the longtime front line attack for Australia but injuries have limited the frequency of all four combining in the same XI in recent series.

Hazlewood’s expected inclusion comes at the expense of the evergreen Scott Boland, while allrounders Cameron Green and Beau Webster have also been named in Australia’s starting team.

“We know Scotty’s class, it is always a pretty tight call,” said captain Cummins at a pre-match press conference Wednesday. “There is not much you can say to Scotty except there is a lot of cricket coming up.

“He knows his worth, and how good he is, and I am sure he will be out there at some point pretty soon.”

Questions remain over batting

While the bowling unit is settled, it’s Australia’s batting lineup that poses more questions.

Opening bat Jake Weatherald, the first test player from Australia’s Northern Territory, has been retained from the Ashes series win over England last season despite indifferent form and is likely to open the innings with Travis Head.

The retirement of veteran opening batter Usman Khawaja has allowed a structural reshuffle with the hosts able to unleash both its allrounders, Green and Webster, at the same time.

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith anchor the innings at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, with Labuschagne also in need of runs to secure his place in the lineup.

Bangladesh short-handed

Meanwhile, Bangladesh arrives severely depleted in the bowling department.

Nahid Rana, Mustafizur Rahman, and Shoriful Islam are all unavailable for the opening test, though Shoriful may return for the second match in Mackay, Queensland state from Aug. 22-26.

The 23-year old Rana, one of the quickest bowlers in world cricket, will be sorely missed by the tourists after he tormented a depleted Australian side with extreme pace and bounce to secure a historic ODI home series victory for Bangladesh just two months ago.

Rana then suffered a side strain in a Twenty20 international match against Zimbabwe in July and would be absent for up to eight weeks, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said.

The batting order has also been hit hard by injuries, with veteran Mushfiqur Rahim ruled out due to a finger injury and the brittle top order was exposed as it collapsed for a lowly 54 in a heavy defeat to a Cricket Australia XI in a warm-up match on the weekend at the same venue.

Busy schedule

This opening fixture launches a grueling schedule for Australia of 20 test matches over the next 12 months, with the possibility of an additional World Test Championship final if they qualify.

After the second test against Bangladesh, Australia travel for a three-test series in South Africa in October, before hosting New Zealand for four tests in the southern summer. They then have a five-test series in India before a one-off day-night test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March to mark the 150th anniversary of matches between the two countries. Then there’s an away Ashes campaign beginning in June to bring the marathon campaign to a close.

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