World Cup prep high on agenda for historic tour

Managing fatigue and exposing players to the Bangladesh conditions will be among the challenges Australia coach Shelley Nitschke will juggle throughout her team’s historic tour of Bangladesh.

Australia’s 14-player squad have now all arrived in Dhaka ahead of the first ODI on Thursday, with the cohort involved in the Women’s Premier League in India arriving after their teammates who flew in on Saturday.

The six-game white-ball tour comes at the end of a long and busy summer for the Australians, which started against West Indies in September and included multi-format series against India and South Africa.

But it is nonetheless an important trip, with ICC Women’s Championship points up for grabs in the three ODIs, and with the T20 World Cup to be staged in Bangladesh in September and October.

This is the first time an Australian women’s squad has toured Bangladesh for a bilateral series, and their first visit since the 2014 T20 World Cup, which just three members of the current squad were part of.

Speaking to media from Dhaka on Tuesday, Nitschke said a balance would have to be struck between putting Australia’s strongest XI on the park, while also making sure all players gained valuable experience in the local conditions.

"It's a little bit twofold, the three ODIs are worth ICC Championship points so they are important to us well, but just to have the opportunity to play the T20s in the conditions that we'll be playing the World Cup, I think it's a really important series all around," Nitschke said.

"There's an element of both every time we get on the field, we want to pick our best XI and win games of cricket but also finding the times to (players) exposure to these conditions and really use this series as well as we can to prepare us for when we come back here in September (is important).

"So I think that it's just striking that right balance."

While Megan Schutt, Kim Garth, Alana King and Tayla Vlaeminck have spent the last month largely at home, the 10 Australians who were part of the WPL have not had a break since the start of the South Africa series in late January.

Of those, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham were involved in Sunday’s final and were belated arrivals into Dhaka on Monday alongside Annabel Sutherland, who was part of the Delhi Capitals squad but did not feature in the decider.

The six players whose teams did not make the finals enjoyed more of a break - UP Warriorz's Alyssa Healy, Grace Harris and Tahlia McGrath all briefly returned to Australia once their group stage commitments wrapped up last week.

Gujarat Giants' Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield instead opted for brief beachside breaks in the Maldives and Goa after missing the finals.

"(How we manage those players) is just a little bit different for every individual depending on what they've been doing over the last three, four weeks," Nitschke said.

The late withdrawal of Darcie Brown due to a navicular stress injury to her left foot presents another selection challenge for Australia, who are likely to carefully manage the workloads of fellow quick Vlaeminck on her first international tour since 2021.

Australia opted against adding another pace bowler to the squad, instead flying in Harris ahead of schedule after she was initially only expected to feature in the T20 leg.

"I think it's probably just changed (our plans) a little bit," Nitschke said.

"But we still believe we've got plenty of options in our bowling, Ellyse Perry has been (bowling well) in the WPL, we’ve still got Tahlia McGrath and Annabel Sutherland.

"We also believe we've got the spinners to fill the void as well and the conditions could be conducive to spin so I feel like we've got enough coverage."

CommBank Tour of Bangladesh

March 21: First ODI, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (2:30pm AEDT)

March 24: Second ODI, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (2:30pm AEDT)

March 27: Third ODI, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (2:30pm AEDT)

March 31: First T20I, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (5:00pm AEDT)

April 2: Second T20I, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (5:00pm AEDT)

April 4: Third T20I, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (5:00pm AEDT)

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck

Bangladesh squad: Nigar Sultana (c), Nahida Akter (vc), Fargana Hoque, Murshida Khatun, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Sultana Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Marufa Akter, Disha Biswas, Sumaiya Akter, Nishita Akter Nishi, Farzana Akter, Rabeya Khan