Head refuses to judge Bangladesh by warm-up defeat

Bangladesh were bowled out for 263 in their first innings against a Cricket Australia XI in Darwin, largely thanks to Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s century.

However, their second innings collapsed for just 54, allowing the hosts to secure an innings-and-38-run victory despite taking only a 92-run first-innings lead.

Speaking ahead of Australia’s training session on Monday, Head said Bangladesh’s warm-up defeat should not be taken as a true reflection of their ability.

“Preparation matches are like that. I’ve played some pretty ordinary ones over the years as well. They’re always challenging because mentally you might have your focus somewhere else.”

Head also praised Bangladesh’s first-innings effort and believes they will quickly turn their attention to the main series.

“Without disrespecting the Cricket Australia XI, the Bangladesh players will just be thinking about Thursday’s game. They’ll be thinking about what they need to get out of that match.”

“They played well in the first innings, made around 270 and had a hundred. So, while the result might look disappointing from the outside, they’ll probably be a little disappointed, but internally as a team they’ll be focused on Thursday.”

The two-Test series will be Bangladesh’s first in Australia in nearly 23 years and their first Test meeting with Australia since 2017. With limited recent experience against Australia’s Test squad, Head said his team has been relying heavily on video analysis to prepare.

“Our analyst is very good. We get a lot of footage and we’re very well resourced in that space. Over the next few days, it’s about looking at the wicket, preparing accordingly and working out what might be coming our way.”