Dhaka – A 32-member Australian cricket team arrived here on Friday night to play a two-match Test series against the Tigers after an 11-year break.Carrying Steve Smith’s men, a Singapore Airlines flight (SQ 446) landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 10:47pm.Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Head of Security Team Major (retd) Hussain Imam and others received the visiting team.The two members of Australia’s advanced security team– Sean Carroll and Frank Demasi who arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday-were also present at VIP lounge.Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detectives Branch and Security Reconaissance Team (SRT) members were there to ensure foolproof security.The visiting side will play two-day tour match against BCB XI on August 22-23 before their Test battles. Australia will play the first Test (August 27-31) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Dhaka while the 2nd Test (September 4-8) at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.As per the Future Tours Programme (FTP), Australia were scheduled to play two Tests and a tour match in Dhaka and Chittagong in October 2015, but the tour was postponed over security concerns.Australia have not played in Bangladesh since Ricky Ponting’s team toured here in April 2006 and outside major tournaments, the two nations have played just two ODI series against each other in Darwin (2008) and Dhaka (2011) since then.UNB news agency
