BRISBANE, June 29: A loss inside three days to a near second-string state team in their opening tour match here on Sunday raised more questions about Bangladesh’s ability to be competitive against Australia in their upcoming Test cricket series.
Set 175 to win by a Queensland Academy of Sport Invitation side, Bangladesh slipped to a 29-run loss as they were dismissed for 145 after tea on the third day of a four-day match at Allan Border Field.
Batsmen Hannan Sarkar and Habibul Bashar each made 33 but Bangladesh failed to reach their modest target against an attack spearheaded by Queensland Sheffield Shield paceman Damien Mackenzie (3-28).
The invitational side included five players without first-class experience and primarily comprised fringe members of the Queensland side apart from Australian one-day representative Nathan Hauritz.
New coach Dav Whatmore, who watched Bangladesh play their first game under his stewardship, described the performance as “an eye-opener”.
“They’ve got all the shots and skill, there’s no problem with that, it’s just basically their shot selection,” Whatmore said.
He has a three-day match against the Australian Cricket Academy at the same venue starting on Thursday and a four-day game against a Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI commencing in Darwin on July 10 to prepare his side for the first Test in Darwin, beginning on July 18.