'Darwin is like Dhaka & Chittagong'
Australia coach Darren Lehmann is confident his side will have adequate preparation ahead of first Test in Dhaka. Despite an enforced lay-off that has left barely a week for his team to begin and complete preparations ahead of their first Test tour to Bangladesh in more than a decade, Lehmann does not believe they are at risk of entering the series underdone.
The 14-man squad for the three week Bangladesh campaign assembled in Darwin yesterday to begin a training camp before flying to Dhaka on August 18.
For many of the players who were rendered uncontracted and unemployed during the protracted pay dispute that was resolved last week, it represents the first time they have returned to a formal cricket environment.
Test captain Steve Smith went as far as to say that he had not "picked up a bat in about two months".
However, Lehmann claimed yesterday that the hiatus from cricket did not represent a concern given the amount of work the squad was due to undertake over the coming week in Darwin, and the sense of mental and physical freshness most had gained.
"Until you get there you don't know," Lehmann conceded to cricket.com.au when pushed about if there was potential for his team to arrive in Dhaka underdone. "We're squeezing enough in this next week, and guys have been doing stuff with their states.
"Even through the MOU they were training and preparing as though they were playing. So in terms of fitness, they are probably ahead of the game, which is really pleasing. Now it's just getting their skills up to the required level."
The left-hander even went as far as to say the break would be good.
"The break's been good for some of them, they've been at the back of a long summer with a lot of travel so sometimes a refreshed mindset is really important," Lehmann said. "They've all come in really excited to get going again.
He also praised the efforts of the Northern Territory Cricket Association (NTCA) for preparing pitches that mimicked Bangladesh's conditions.
“The NTCA have been fantastic, they've made wickets very similar to what we'll get in Bangladesh – they're low and they're slow, and they will spin. There's three wicket blocks that are more like Dhaka, three wickets that are a bit like Chittagong, and centre wicket facilities so we can play a match and work on our fielding.
"So in terms of conditions and the heat and humidity that we'll face when we get there, it's great preparation especially for those who have come out of winter in the southern states [of Australia]."
But Lehmann believes the week of concentrated practice in Darwin coupled with a two-day tour match upon their arrival, in which Australia's full complement of 14 players can be utilised, should prove sufficient preparation for players who have not faced or held a red ball in a match environment since last March.
"We've got enough sessions in place, and then we've got enough time when we get there [to Bangladesh] weather permitting," Lehmann said. "I think we'll be fine, we've got a two-day game which is a mixture of players, the wicket will be very similar to what we encounter for the first Test then we've got training sessions before that Test starts as well.
“We're squashing a lot into the eight or nine days before we go to Dhaka, then we just have to see what the weather and the facilities are like when we get there."
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