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 off-spinner 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 all-rounders 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.”
While the bowling unit is settled, it’s Australia’s batting lineup that poses more questions.
