In the absence of A team matches, it is the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) High Performance Squad that is the stage for performers to hone their skills and make a case for a place in the national team. There will be an opportunity to stake claims in July when the squad leaves for Australia to play a series of matches under the guidance of coach Simon Helmot.

The BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin said yesterday that there are those in the squad -- that will leave on July 1 -- who have been earmarked as 'immediate replacements', should the need arise for players in the national team to be replaced.

“We haven't seen the team list yet, the coach [Helmot] is finalising that,” Minhajul told The Daily Star. “But we know that some experienced cricketers like Liton [Das], Abul Hasan, Mehedi Maruf and Anamul Haque will be touring.

“We are sending some immediate replacement players, those who can enter the national team if we need replacements for any reasons, and some for the development squad.”

All of the matches will be in Darwin, the most northerly of Australian capital cities and the venue of one of only two Tests (the other being Cairns) that Bangladesh have played in Australia in 2003. According to Minhajul, there will be five one-dayers and one three-day match against a sort of invitational eleven. 

“When the first-class season in Australia ends, the players come to Darwin and continue playing; since the weather in Darwin is different from the rest of the country,” Minhajul explained. “The opposition will be formed from those players.”

Minhajul also informed that a 29-member preliminary national squad will have a training camp from July 10, ahead of the two-Test series against Australia at home in August-September, which will be followed by a full tour of South Africa in October.