Retired cricketer Dean Jones warns Australia ahead of Bangladesh tour

Bangladesh have improved their one day game drastically in the last couple of years. They are now slowly taking rapid strides in getting better in the longest format of the game which prompted former Australia cricketer: Dean Jones to caveat Australia to take their A game into the series to be held in August or they might well face defeat.

Bangladesh have been doing well in test cricket both home and away. They recorded their first ever test victory against England last year as they defeated them by 108 runs at Mirpur and subsequently drew the 2-match series 1-1. They fell 22 runs short of their 286-run target in a spirited performance in the first test.

Bangladesh has always been labeled as a ‘spirited’ team which can spring in the odd surprise but that tag did not give any consolation to its cricketers as they wanted to start winning against top sides.

Though they were whitewashed in New Zealand, their performance was highly praised as they amassed 595 runs in the first test, which was their highest ever team score outside the sub-continent in their 17-year test history. Nobody expected them to win a test match when they arrived at the shores of Sri Lanka. Trailing 0-1 in the series, Bangladesh recorded their first ever win against Sri Lanka – winning the game by 4 wickets to draw the 2-match series.

Australia must take Dean Jone’s warning seriously, for they were hammered 3-0 in Sri Lanka last year. Agreed, they did produce a better performance recently in India; playing in the sub-continent is always a challenge for visiting sides.

Australia haven’t toured Bangladesh for more than a decade now, their last game was in April 2006. Bangladesh is a much better side now and Australia will have their work cut out. They were scheduled to tour Bangladesh in 2015 but later pulled out of the tour owing to a reliable report of a conspiracy being planned against them by some militants.