BANGLADESH TOUR: UNDERDONE AUSSIES’ TOUR MATCH CANCELLED

AUSTRALIA will head into Sunday’s first Test in Bangladesh underdone and potentially ripe for the picking after its tour match was cancelled.

Steve Smith’s men had been due to play a two-day tour match at Fatullah, on the outskirts of Dhaka, starting today.

But coach Darren Lehmann confirmed yesterday the game would not go ahead after parts of the venue were flooded last week with contaminated water from nearby factories.

It means the Australians will line up for their first Test on Bangladeshi soil since 2006 with only a three-day intrasquad game in Darwin under their belts.

Lehmann was part of a Cricket Australia contingent that inspected the ground.

“We’ve decided not to do the tour game now, which is obviously a shame for both sides,” he said.

“The Bangladesh Cricket Board have been fantastic in trying to get us a game, and obviously the amount of rain we’ve had can’t be helped.

“We looked at various facilities around Bangladesh and Dhaka especially — it’s a shame we’re not playing but we’ve got great [training] facilities here.”

There are obvious risks for Australia going in unprepared against Bangladesh, a dangerous team on home soil, which drew its two-Test series with England 1-1 last year.

Teenage off-spin prodigy Mehedi Hasan proved a major headache for the English batsmen during that tour, taking 19 wickets to be named man of the series. If Australia is to fare better, it will need big performances from vice-captain David Warner and Usman Khawaja, who have struggled on the subcontinent.

Opener Matt Renshaw and middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb both showed good signs during the tour of India this year, but have had no other subcontinent Test experience.