DARWIN // The stand-in Australia captain Michael Clarke says his team will not make the mistake of taking Bangladesh lightly in their three-match limited-overs cricket series starting tomorrow. Bangladesh beat Australia in a one-day match in Cardiff, Wales, in 2005 and Clarke, standing in for regular skipper Ricky Ponting, said the Australians had no intention of underestimating their rivals. "I can guarantee that definitely won't happen," he said. "It's happened to us before and we've lost, not just to Bangladesh, but to a lot of teams.
"As soon as you take things for granted I think you find yourself asking questions why you've lost that game, so it's important we concentrate on Saturday." Along with Ponting, who has a wrist injury, Australia will be without opener Matthew Hayden, recovering from an Achilles' tendon strain, and strike bowler Brett Lee, who has been granted leave after a marriage breakup. The Australians looked rusty in a warm-up match against an Australian Institute of Sport XI on Thursday, but Clarke said they will quickly improve.
The Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said his team was aiming for consistency and would not be satisfied with occasional, surprise wins over teams such as Australia. "We always talk about the fact that we have a win here, we have a win there," the Australian-born Siddons said. "We're trying to be more consistently competitive." Siddons said only through consistency would the Bangladesh team earn respect.
"Coming to Australia and everyone knowing that we can be competitive, not asking 'do you think you might win a game?'" he said. "'How many games are you going to win?' is what I want people to ask." The three one-dayers will be played at Marrara Cricket Ground in the northern territory of Darwin. Saturday's match will be followed by games on Sept 3 and Sept 6. Teams: Australia (from): Michael Clarke (captain), Mike Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Andrew Symonds, David Hussey, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Brett Geeves. Bangladesh (from): Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Alok Kapali, Dhiman Ghosh, Dolar Mahmud, Farhad Reza, Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Raqibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam.