Bangladesh cricket has come a long way since April 2006, when they played their last Test against Australia at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury

Stadium in Chittagong. The Tigers have started to utilise home conditions, which was evident in the series against England last year where Bangladesh managed to level the two-Test series 1-1 with a historic win in the second Test in Dhaka.

The team have been training in Chittagong for the past three days with an aim of maximisingtheir familiarity with conditions at the venue where they will take on the Aussies in the second Test and have the advantage of having practised on the centre wicket.

The 24-strong preliminary squad for the Australia series -and the tour of South Africa following that - will partake in a three-day practice match from

today. According to Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim it will help give the home side an edge so that if things go well, Bangladesh can give a tough fight to the visitors.

"It's a great opportunity for us to practise on the centre wicket where we are going to play the Test match. In Dhaka we practised in the nets but in Chittagong we are batting on the centre wicket and we are going to play a practice match where most probably we are going to play the Test match against them. The heat in Chittagong is different from Dhaka and the soil in both venues are also different; so our spinners should also know which length they should hit.

"We don't play much in Chittagong as whenever we have a home series we practise at Mirpur. So from that point of view I think it's very good planning, but I hope that all these things will work in our favour, at the end of the day it does not matter much if the result does not come in your favour. So far I am happy with the way we have practised for the last three days and I hope everyone will take the upcoming practice match seriously and from that we can also figure out a Test team," said Mushfiqur to the media after the training session yesterday.

According to the 30-year-old, the Tigers have started to utilise home conditions which they previously were unable to do and are expecting a pitch similar to the one prepared against England last year.

“That's obvious -- we have played many home series previously and if you have noticed there were world-class spinners, batsmen and bowlers in the opposition and we also have a few. The pitch has always helped us but to

be honest we were unable to capitalise on that assistance, so we don't want to blame the conditions. It's the players who were unable to utilise the condition previously.

“But for the last two years we are creating opportunities to utilise home conditions properly, both in batting and bowling. That actually gives us the confidence to play well against any top team, including Australia, as we now have few a talented bowlers, batsmen and all-rounders in the Test side, which is very important, and we also have the experience. So I think this is the right time to play against Australia and hopefully we can start well and everyone stays fit," he said.