Australia are ready for Bangladesh, says batsman Handscomb

Australia are ready for their first Test on Bangladeshi soil for over a decade even if they miss a warm-up match due to flooding, batsman Peter Handscomb said yesterday. The visitors are slated to play the warm-up at Fatullah on the outskirts of Dhaka starting Tuesday, but the match remains in doubt because the ground is partially inundated. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has offered alternative venues but the Australians are reluctant to change at the last minute due to security concerns.Australia have not toured Bangladesh since 2006, and the Test starting next Sunday at Dhaka’s Sher-e Bangla National Stadium has been long in the making. They were due to play two Tests in Bangladesh in October 2015 but the tour was cancelled over security fears after a wave of attacks by Islamist extremists in the Muslim-majority nation. Cricket Australia agreed to reschedule the series this year only after Bangladesh promised intense security. Handscomb said his side had prepared for the tour and were “fine and ready to go”.“I don’t think we will be going into that first Test cold, regardless whether the tour match goes ahead or not,” he told reporters. “We had a great preparation up in Darwin. We managed to play an intra-squad three-day game there. I think everyone got what they needed out of it.”Australia decided against a warm-up match during their last tour of Bangladesh and were caught off guard by the hosts, narrowly scraping a win after a shock start. The Darwin match, in Australia’s tropical north, was seen as a conditioning exercise before the hot and humid weather expected throughout the Bangladesh series.Handscomb said Australia’s relative inexperience in the region could prove to be a blessing. “I actually don’t think it is a bad thing as well, going into the subcontinent with an open mind,” he said.“I think if you haven’t played too many games in the subcontinent, you are not too worried about what the ball might do. You can play with a bit more freedom rather than going in with the expectations that the ball will do everything,” he said.The second Test will start in Chittagong on September 4 and the Australians depart Bangladesh on September 9.Mominul back in Bangladesh squad for Aussie TestBangladesh yesterday brought back batsman Mominul Haque into their squad a day after his axing for the first Test against Australia created uproar on social media.Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan said he personally instructed selectors and team management to include Momimul, who holds the highest Test average of 46.88 by any Bangladeshi batsman having played a minimum of 20 innings.“There was no reason Mominul should be dropped,” Nazmul said in Dhaka. “I have spoken (to selectors and coach Chandika Hathurusingha) why he was dropped. I think he became a victim of situation. I would say he has no reason to feel upset,” he said.Batsman Mosaddek Hossain made the way for Mominul in the 14-man squad for the first Test beginning August 27, after showing no signs of improvement from an eye infection. Mominul made a vital contribution towards his team’s win over England in their last Test at home in October.But form deserted the 25-year-old in away matches after he scored just 138 runs at an average of 23. He lost his place in Bangladesh’s last Test match in Sri Lanka, which they won by four wickets to finish the two-match series 1-1. Yet his exclusion came as a surprise considering his record at home. Former Bangladesh captain Aminul Islam, who currently lives in Australia, expressed his shock on Facebook. Bangladesh have not played a Test against Australia since Ricky Ponting’s team visited the country in 2006, six years after they were granted Test status.