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Tigers fly down under today

SPORTS REPORTER
There can be no bigger challenge for Bangladesh when Khaled Mahmud's men set off for Australia today to play two Tests and three one-day internationals.
The maiden tour down under will also be an acid test for Bangladesh's new coach Dav Whatmore, who knows better than anybody else that how forbidding Australia can be.
The all-conquering Australians have already confirmed that they are not considering the tour of the modest South Asian nation as a charity and announced a fullstrength side to be drawn at two new venues in Darwin and Cairns.
Although Whatmore put on a brave face in Friday's press briefing
after an 18-day training, the 49-year-old knew instinctively that the task ahead of him would be simply damage limitation.
Since gaining Test status in June 2000, Bangladesh have been the punch-bag, losing 18 of their 19 previous Tests with the other being drawn thanks to rain.
Alarmed by the dismal performances of the Tigers new ICC president Ehsan Mani warned that their overseas tours would be curtailed in the future.
The statement comes only days after the ruling body's cricket committee advised that Bangladesh would have to go through a certain qualifying procedure with Zimbabwe and Kenya to earn a place in the Champions Trophy in England next year.
There was more bad news at home when Emirates declined to be the team's official sponsor.
Snubbed by the leading airliner
Mahmud's men will now have to fly down under on Thai Airways.
The number one sport in the country suffered a body blow in the aftermath of the World Cup debacle in South Africa, where they lost five of their six first round matches including a shock defeat against minnows Canada.
The debacle in South Africa prompted the Board to form an inquiry committee and the findings of the two-member body rocked the establishment.
But the Board tried to restore order by bringing Whatmore after sacking former Pakistan paceman Mohsin Kamal.
The Sri Lankan-born Australian took over on June 1 and since then the cricket fans have pinned their hopes on him. The architect of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup victory however cautioned against over-
expectation and said that his targets at the moment were to speed up the team's progress and improve skills.
"It's an ongoing process and a slow process. It doesn't happen overnight. So, to get the results we'll have to be patient for a number of months not just the next two months."
Understandably, nobody expects a victory against the formidable Australians. But our cricketers can still win the hearts and minds by displaying some fighting spirit. By spirit we mean converting a fighting fifty into a magnificent hundred and putting a price on each member of the Bangladesh team's wicket. Though our bowlers lack the sting, but they should try to be as disciplined as Glenn McGrath. And in the field the slogan should be save a run that you could not score.
Bangladesh will have a two-week pre tour camp in Brisbane before flying to Darwin to play the first Test on July 18-22.
The second Test will start at Cairns on July 25. Cairns will also host the first and second one-day on August 2 and 3. The third and final one-day match will be held in Darwin on August 6.
BANGLADESH SQUAD: Khaled Mahmud (captain), Habibul Bashar, Al-Shahriar, Hannan Sarker, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Alok Kapali, Sanwar Hossain, Khaled Mashud (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Rafique, Manjarul Islam, Tapas Baishya, Mashrafee-bin Mortaza, Tareq Aziz Khan and Anwar Hossain.
Dav Whatmore (coach), Lt. Col. (retd) MA Latif (manager), John Gloster (physio), Dean Woodford (trainer) and Nasir Ahmed (computer analyst).