Coach Darren Lehmann Hints At Australia Playing Two Spinners In The First Test At Dhaka 1
Following the telling impact on ground condition in Fatullah which marked the end of warm-up fixture, Lehmann is hope the rain would stay away in the two Tests starting during the last week of August. Photo Credit: Firoz Ahmed.

The Story

Playing in the sub-continent has never been an easy pie for the Australians. Two of their most recent visits ended in unfavorable results for them as Sri Lanka whitewashed them 3-0 whereas India got better of them with a 2-1 score line.

Now, as they prepare to face another Asian team – Bangladesh – in their own backyard, the Aussies are set to face a similar set of challenges which Sri Lanka and India posed to them.

Two spinner strategy to counter the opposition

Australia has landed in Bangladesh with two spinners – Aston Agar and newbie Mitchell Swepson – balance things out when they take on the host on pitches which will most like have puffs of dust flying every time the spinners are in action.

Coach Darren Lehmann has suggested Australia would go with two spinners for the series opener in Mirpur which commences on Sunday.

This spin friendly condition has now made the path clear for either one of left arm spinner Ashton Agar and leg spinner Mitchell Swepson to play with experienced veteran Nathan Lyon.

Golden opportunity for both the youngsters

If given a chance, Agar will be playing his first cricket test in four years since his Test debut as a teenager in the 2013 Ashes series against England.

Swepson, on the other hand, has gained the opportunity due to the absence of Steven O’Keefe who was dropped despite a brilliant tour of India earlier this year. O’Keefe, who took 19 wickets at an average of 23.26, including 12 in the first test at Pune, was fined A$20,000 ($15,838) for “highly inappropriate behavior” towards a female cricketer while drunk at an award ceremony in April.

“We obviously haven’t played too much, so we’re fairly settled in where we want to go,” he told reporters in the Bangladesh capital.

“That decision will be made later, once we start to have a look at the test wicket and the conditions. Most likely, I think we’ll play two spinners,” Darren Lehmann said in an interview.

“Aston got the all-round game and hopefully he’ll take it to the next level so if we wanted to play three quicks he could bat up the order, for example. He gives us a lot of flexibility in that way.”1

“Young Swepson is a good prospect as a leg-spinner … it’s really tight between all the spinners but Ashton himself has batted really well, he’s a gun fielder and he’s got his length right with the ball…”

The first test starts on Sunday with the second in Chittagong scheduled from Sept. 4-8.