**Official** Australia in Bangladesh

[dontcloseyoureyes]

ur joking Watson is a sheild alrounder at best

Symonds is barely a grade all-rounder.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Pic of Aussies arriving in Dhaka, from cricbd.com

What the hell has that guy in the middle carrying? Looks like some form of crocodile or lizard.No wonder Gilchrist looks a bit unhappy.

 

[marc71178]

It's a wifflebat - LE will fill you in on the details.

 

[andyc]

They're flowers, JJ. In some other pics you can see the Aussies all holding different kinds of flowers.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

They're flowers, JJ. In some other pics you can see the Aussies all holding different kinds of flowers.

Way to spoil the fun.

 

[alternative]

Pretty good team Bangladesh have put up there.. Hope the spear attack work well for them.. and hopefully Rasel will partner with Mortaza..

 

[aussie]

Australia to play five bowlers

If so, I guess the team would be:

Jaques
Hayden
Ponting
Martyn
Hussey
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
Gillespie
Clark
MacGill

yea, also nice to see Dizzy having a haircut looks a lot more civilised.

 

[oz_fan]

For the first test I would have:
Jacques
Hayden
Ponting
Hussey
Martyn
Symonds
Gilchrist
Lee
Warne
Clark
Gillespie

I would have Dizzy in for Kasper.
Try Hussey at 4.
Give Lee a go at 8.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Why Symonds? Surely he has to be dropped now.

If they pick five bowlers, I'd expect:

Hayden
Hussey
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
Gillespie
Clark
MacGill

I'd rather see Jaques in there and Hussey down at 5 (I think he's perfectly suited to number 6 personally, given his ability to bat with the tail), but I think they'll have Hussey open instead. If they go with four bowlers, Symonds will be retained.

 

[crickmate]

Interesting comments by Ponting on cricinfo:

"There is more luck involved in the one-day game than in Test cricket," he said. "I am sure the exposure they have had against some top teams would have helped them, but we don't want to bother about what they are capable of and want to focus on what we can do."

He did, however, backtrack on his comments earlier in the year, when he was quoted as saying that teams like Bangladesh did not deserve to play Test cricket. "I probably said so without looking at the broader aspect," he admitted. "Bangladesh have improved as a one-day side due to exposure and I guess that is why they are playing Test cricket."

 

[aussie]

Why Symonds? Surely he has to be dropped now.

If they pick five bowlers, I'd expect:

Hayden
Hussey
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
Gillespie
Clark
MacGill

I'd rather see Jaques in there and Hussey down at 5 (I think he's perfectly suited to number 6 personally, given his ability to bat with the tail), but I think they'll have Hussey open instead. If they go with four bowlers, Symonds will be retained.

all possible, even Jaques could play, which could be good exposure at the top for him.

 

[luckyeddie]

Interesting comments by Ponting on cricinfo:

"There is more luck involved in the one-day game than in Test cricket," he said. "I am sure the exposure they have had against some top teams would have helped them, but we don't want to bother about what they are capable of and want to focus on what we can do."

He did, however, backtrack on his comments earlier in the year, when he was quoted as saying that teams like Bangladesh did not deserve to play Test cricket. "I probably said so without looking at the broader aspect," he admitted. "Bangladesh have improved as a one-day side due to exposure and I guess that is why they are playing Test cricket."

Fair comment and it is to Ponting's credit that he said it.

 

[crickmate]

at least better than what he said earlier. I am cusious to see how will his face become if his team again loses to Bangladesh(in ODI ofcourse, i never dare Bangladesh will win test against Australia at the moment). Last time Ponting almost ate his finger(biting nails).

Fair comment and it is to Ponting's credit that he said it.

 

[Anil]

Fair comment and it is to Ponting's credit that he said it.

seriously it's just diplomatic gobbledegook....

 

[luckyeddie]

seriously it's just diplomatic gobbledegook....

Seriously, I don't give a damn if it is - it needed saying even if it wasn't meant, and, of course, there remains the possibility that he really DID mean it - credit where credit's due, and all that.

The trouble with this world is that far too often, people say the wrong thing when sometimes a couple of seconds thought and a little tact and diplomacy is all that's required.

It's called 'making the right impression' - and Ponting did just that.

/yes, I know that I should have been a politician

 

[crickmate]

Here are some detailed news about his new statements:
Source:the new age

Ponting plays it safe
Staff Correspondent
Australian captain Ricky Ponting retreated from his earlier stand of anti-Bangladesh Test status confessing that he made a mistake by making a negative comment on the issue a couple of months back.
In mid-February Ponting shocked the newest Test nation by saying that he did not want Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to play Test cricket. Bangladesh gave a befitting reply beating Sri Lanka by four wickets in a one-day game a couple days after the Australian captain’s comment was published in the Daily Telegraph of London.
‘I think what I said was wrong and Bangladesh do deserve their Test status. I was not really into the growth of the game around the world and probably made a mistake,’ Ponting said on Friday during the official press briefing of the Australia cricket team, who are in the country to play two Tests and three one-dayers against the home side.
Ponting, who led the Australians when they were stunned by the Tigers at Cardiff last June, not only gobbled up his words completely, but also gave Bangladesh a hope to be optimistic about their future.
‘I am sure with the exposure they have with some of the best teams around them, they would improve their cricket.
‘They have won some one-day games in the recent times and that suggest that they have improved their quality. The more exposure they will be given, they will keep improving more,’ said the Australian captain.
After the defeat in Cardiff, Ponting had dubbed the result ‘the biggest upset in the history of the game’, although many cricket pundits disagreed with him saying that it was rather a result of Bangladesh’s continuous improvement.
When it was pointed out to the Australian captain at the pressing briefing, Ponting again played a defensive shot saying that he never wanted to call it as the biggest ever upset. Rather he wanted to say it was the most disappointing game he was ever involved in.

 

[age_master]

I reakon we should open the batting with Warne and Lee - give them both a good chance to score a test hundred.

 

[fishyguy]

I reakon we should open the batting with Warne and Lee - give them both a good chance to score a test hundred.

Thats not a bad idea actually because they are both very capable batsmen especially Lee although I have seen some great batting from Warne as well.

it'd be nice to see them experiment with the batting line up but theres almost zero chance of anything like that.I doubt Australia's performance will be anything short of professional.
Would be quite a statement if they did open with Lee and Warne though wouldnt it.

If Lee does get a chance to bat which isnt that likely he'll probably do very well but I doubt Australia will wait for him to get 100 because they'll probably want to declare before that.

 

[fishyguy]

Heres my prediction for the 1st test:

Realistically:

Bd Ist innings 250 all out
Aus Ist innings 550/6
Bd 2nd innings 180 all out

In my dream:

Bd 1st innings 315 all out
Australia 450 all out
BD 2nd Innings 265 all out
Australia 2nd innings 130/1

 

[luckyeddie]

I reakon we should open the batting with Warne and Lee - give them both a good chance to score a test hundred.

There's one reason why Australia won't do that - they underestimated Bangladesh once before.