Reports: Cricket Australia mulls Bangladesh tour for Test series

Team Australia is likely to tour Bangladesh for a Test series later this year. If the tour gets underway, it will be the first Test tour of the Australian team to the Asian country for a Test series after almost a decade. As per the reports in the Times of India, an official confirmed the news about the CA mulling over a potential tour this year.

As per the schedules set by the official boards, the Australia team is stated to tour Bangladesh for a couple of Tests in the month of August and September. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury noted the same in a recent conversation. He quoted, “We are now working on the schedule and other details with CA (Cricket Australia).”

The last time Australian team played a Test match in Bangladesh was back in the year 2006. They had played the Test series under the leadership of Ricky Ponting then. Team Bangladesh had got their Test status back in the year 2000 and since then have played in 100 Tests thus far. They recently played their 100th Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo.

Despite having the Test status for close to 17 years, they have not had a large share of Test matches. Their first ever Test on the Indian soil came early on in this season in February 2017. Hence, the rarity of the fixtures of the longer format is a known thing. Talking about the fixtures between Australia and Bangladesh, the two teams have only played two bilateral ODI series in the last decade.

Earlier in 2015, the Australian team was stated to travel Australia for the 2-match Test series. However, the tour was called off by the Australian officials citing security reasons. Also, soon after the call, the U19 Australian team had also pulled out of the ICC U19 World Cup in 2016. Now, the recent talks between the two boards might well see Bangladesh host the Aussies in the near future.