The Hindu : Bangladesh faces a huge challenge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 25, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Bangladesh faces a huge challenge

Cairns (Australia) July 24. Bangladesh faces a huge challenge in the second Test against World champion Australia starting here tomorrow, Australian skipper Steve Waugh warned today.

``I'm not going to predict carnage, but it'll be a very good Test for the Bangladesh batsmen,'' Waugh said.

``There's certainly a bit of moisture in the pitch and it'll favour the quick bowlers.''

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, who understands Australian conditions agreed.

``You don't have to be Einstein to work out batting has been the biggest problem facing the side,'' he said.

Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud said his team had played on difficult pitches previously in New Zealand and South Africa.

Groundsman Kevin Mitchell has said batsmen will face a green wicket — the type of surface on which Australia's champion pace battery of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie are likely to be especially menacing.

Waugh sounded a further ominous note for the tourists, saying his side had room to improve from Darwin.

``We've got a lot of improvement in us,'' he said. ``People expect Bangladesh to improve from the first Test, but I expect us to improve more.''

The teams:

Australia: Steve Waugh (capt.), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann, Martin Love, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Bichel (12th man).

Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mahmud (capt.), Javed Omar, Hannan Sarkar, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful, Khaled Mashud, Al Sahariar, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tapash Baisya, Alok Kopali, Manjural Islam, Sanwar Hossain, Mohammad Rafique, Anwar Hossain, Tareq Aziz. — AFP

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