Australia settled despite cancellation

Australia are seemingly unlikely to spring any major selection surprises for the first Test of their Qantas Tour of Bangladesh, starting on Sunday, after their only scheduled warm-up match in the country was cancelled.

Quick Single: Australia's Bangladesh tour match cancelled

Confirmation on Monday that Australia's two-day practice match had been called off due to flooding has denied squad members seemingly outside the Test XI another chance to force their way in, making it even more unlikely that a dark horse such as uncapped leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson will be picked in Dhaka.

Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar is instead expected to partner Nathan Lyon.

Just one other change is expected from the XI from the final two Tests of their series against India earlier this year, with Usman Khawaja the frontrunner to replace Shaun Marsh in the top order.

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Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are set to remain the sole pacemen in the absence of injured spearhead Mitchell Starc, while allrounder Glenn Maxwell is expected to hold his No.6 spot.

"We obviously haven't played too much, so we're fairly settled in where we want to go," coach Darren Lehmann said.

"That decision will be made later, once we start to have a look at the Test wicket and the conditions.

"Most likely, I think we'll play two spinners."

With Steve O'Keefe dumped for the two-Test series despite his performance in India, Agar's ability with the bat and in the field gives him an edge as the second spin option ahead of uncapped leggie Swepson.

"His length is a lot better, obviously he had a good Shield season last year," Lehmann said.

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"Young Swepson is a good prospect as a leg-spinner, obviously (Jon) Holland back home has bowled well.

"It's really tight between all the spinners but Ashton himself has batted really well, he's a gun fielder and he's got his length right with the ball, so we're really pleased for him."

Both Agar and Swepson were part of Australia's squad in India and had the chance to take notes on how to spin their way to success on the subcontinent.

The 23-year-old Agar will be eager to return to national duties after not representing Australia in any format since March last year.

"Steven was excellent over there (in India) but we've decided to go with Ashton," Lehmann said.

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"He's got the all-round game and hopefully he'll take it to the next level so if we wanted to play three quicks he could bat up the order, for example.

"He gives us a lot of flexibility in that way."

Australia have not won a Test series on the subcontinent since beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2011.

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

22-23 August Tour match, TBC

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong