Aussies wary of Bangladesh bowling threat in historic series

Alyssa Healy says Australia’s batters will need to quickly adapt and may need to tempter some of their more aggressive tendencies if they are to counter Bangladesh’s bowling attack in Thursday’s first ODI.

Australia and Bangladesh are meeting in a bilateral series for the first time, in what is also Healy’s team’s first visit to the Asian nation in a decade.

The Tigers are a team on the rise and are making an impact after being added to the 10-team ICC Women’s Championship.

In the last year, they have recorded their first ODI win over India, defeated South Africa in a one-dayer in South Africa for the first time, and won their first T20 series against Pakistan.

A large factor in that success has been their bowling attack, with left-arm spinner Nahida Akter and leg-spinner Rabeya Khan in particular dominant throughout 2023, with the former included in the ICC’s ODI Team of the Year, while teen quick Marufa Akter is an exciting prospect.

Bangladesh are also an unfamiliar opponent; Australia have played them just once in an ODI, during the 2022 World Cup, and they have only met twice in T20Is.

"They possess a lot of skill within their bowling attack in particular, a lot of spin, which is quite noticeable and obviously a real challenge for teams not from the subcontinent to come over here to these conditions and have to counteract that," Healy told reporters in Dhaka on Wednesday.

"As a whole their bowling unit is a real strength of theirs and watching a little bit of the series they've played recently against India in these conditions, they made it really challenging for the aggression of that Indian batting line-up.

"So for us as a batting unit, we're going to have to counteract that and adapt to conditions really quickly and adapt to what they're going to throw at us with the ball in hand.

"It's exciting for us, we play a lot against India, England and New Zealand and we don't really get the opportunity to play against Bangladesh very often."

Ten members of the Australian squad spent the last few weeks in India playing in the Women’s Premier League, while the team also had a month-long stint in Mumbai over Christmas.

Only pace bowlers Tayla Vlaeminck, Megan Schutt and Kim Garth and leg-spinner Alana King did not feature in the tournament, and Healy said Australia’s batters would benefit from the experience.

"I think that (the conditions) are going to be quite foreign to us," Healy said.

"But I think having that knowledge and that experience, in particular coming from the WPL - the Delhi wicket in particular was a little bit low and a little bit slow which doesn't traditionally suit an Australian batting line-up.

"I think there's enough experience within our group and enough communication in particular to make sure that we're adapting to those conditions and still being able to score runs when they don't quite suit us."

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