A tough wicket to bat on: Ashraful
The Bangladesh team had a rest day on Thursday and some of the players and the coaching staff took this opportunity to watch Australia's warm up match against the AIS at the TIO Stadium.
The Australian squad, which arrived in Darwin yesterday, was given a scare by the AIS side who bowled out their fancied opponents for 177 before experience prevailed. The AIS in their chase folded for 123 after being 51/2 at one stage and left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson ran out with figures of 4-1-5-3.
The rusty batting effort of the Aussies was however closely followed by Jamie Siddons and his charges and the slowness of the drop-in pitch also gave reasons to feel encouraged.
"It looked different from the Gardens Oval wicket. Balls tend to skid a bit but generally on the slower side. The outfield is also a lot bigger than the gardens and hitting boundaries appeared difficult. You have to work the gaps for your runs here," said Tigers skipper Mohammad Ashraful.
The team attended a reception hosted by Northern Territory's Minister for Sports Karl Hampton at the Parliament Building in the afternoon. Addressing the audience which included the Bangladesh, Australia, AIS and Northern Territory players, members of the Bangladesh community, cricket officials and local dignitaries on the lawn overlooking the sea, Hampton lauded the Bangladesh cricket team.
"The Bangladesh side was the first international team to play Test cricket in Darwin when they came here in 2003 and they will always have a special place in our hearts," said the Sports Minister who also made special mention of Ashraful.
"To all school children I want to present Mohammad Ashraful who was 16 when he became the youngest batsman in history to make a Test hundred. He was also the batsman who scored a century when Bangladesh beat Australia in a one day international and he will be one to watch out for in this series."
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