Don’t play against Bangladesh that often, but they’ve got some great spinners: Nicola Carey

Brisbane, Oct 7 (IANS) Australia will not be taking Bangladesh lightly despite missing several key frontline options, seam-bowling all-rounder Nicola Carey said on Wednesday, while pointing to the visitors formidable spin bowling attack ahead of the three-match ODI series starting here on Friday.

For the ODIs against Bangladesh, Australia will be without injured captain Sophie Molineux alongside fast bowlers Lucy Hamilton and Darcie Brown. “We don’t play them that often, but we know they’ve got some great spinners. They’re a competitive team, and cricket around the world’s, the standards are lifting every year, so we’re expecting a quality side in these three games as well.”

“We’re coming into this series full of confidence. I think we’re in a good spot, the girls know what they need to do and how they want to go about it. There’s a lot of focus on us and how we want to go about the game,” Nicola told reporters on Wednesday.

The 12-member Australian squad trained at the Allan Border Field on Wednesday afternoon, with Sophie and Lucy accompanying the group while continuing their rehabilitation. Although national selector Shawn Flegler had earlier hinted at potential additions to the squad, the roster remains unchanged for the series opener.

The two sides have met in just six ODIs so far, with the upcoming assignment marking Bangladesh’s maiden bilateral tour to Australia. In their previous 50-over World Cup meeting last year, Australia secured a dominant ten-wicket win.

Having put behind consecutive semi-final heartbreaks at major global events, Australia produced an unbeaten run to claim the T20 World Cup title in England earlier this year. Leg-spinner Alana King highlighted that the leadership core has encouraged complete tactical clarity across all formats.

“I think we’re all very comfortable in the style of play we want to be playing, and it’s driven from Shell (Nitschke) and Soph (Molineux) and the leadership group as well. There’s just a lot of accountability from everyone to play their role and do it as best as they can, there’s a lot of freedom … that’s how we want to play our cricket, no matter what format we play,” she said.

Reflecting on their recent T20 World Cup triumph, Alana stated that the group aims to maintain its dominant trajectory. “We actually had a great reflection the other day as a whole team and staff and just reviewed the whole (T20 World Cup and how we went about it) and I think we can hold our heads up pretty high.

“We went there to change a few things and the way we wanted to play, and led beautifully by Sophie Molineux as well in her first World Cup to lift a trophy, that’s pretty special for her and us as a whole group. Hopefully that’s not the end and it’s going to be the start of some pretty special stuff,” she added.

–IANS

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