Maxi sets sights on Bangladesh bowlers

Despite having not bowled a ball in his past nine one-day internationals, Glenn Maxwell says he's hopeful of playing a role with his off-spin in Australia's crucial ICC Champions Trophy clash against Bangladesh on Monday.

Maxwell was absent from the bowling crease against New Zealand on Friday as skipper Steve Smith again opted for Travis Head as his sole spin-bowling option.

The Victorian was Australia's frontline spinner during their triumphant World Cup campaign in 2015 and for most of the year that preceded it, while he bowled his maximum of 10 overs in three of five matches during Australia's last ODI series in the UK two years ago.

But he hasn't bowled a single delivery in his past nine ODIs and has sent down just two overs in total since Head made his debut 12 months ago.

He also bowled just six overs in two Tests during Australia's series against India in March and used himself sparingly as captain of the Kings XI Punjab in the recent Indian Premier League, bowling 19 overs in 14 matches.

Against NZ, Head again showed why he's been Smith's go-to part-time spin option in the past 12 months as he and Moises Henriques did well to peg back the Black Caps after they'd made a fast start at Edgbaston.

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Maxwell, who took four catches on Friday, said he was happy to do his job in the field but remained an option should his team need him. 

"Heady did well (against NZ), I thought," he said ahead of the game at The Oval, where more rain is forecast for Monday.

"But I have been working hard on my bowling and hopefully I will get an opportunity at some stage.

"I just keep running around and keep trying to find where the ball is going to go (and) keep trying to follow it."

Maxwell said Australia's star-studded batting line-up will look to shake off their early top-order wobble against NZ and target Bangladesh's bowlers at The Oval.

Bangladesh's bowling attack was exposed by England's powerful batsmen in the tournament opener on Thursday, with the hosts cruising to their victory target of 306 with 16 balls to spare.

The Tigers opted for just four genuine specialist bowlers against England in favour of a deeper batting line-up and Maxwell says Australia will look to take full advantage if they are faced with a similarly thin bowling attack on Monday.

"I think they batted quite well against England," Maxwell said of Bangladesh, who posted their first ever 300-plus score on English soil on Thursday.

"The biggest thing for them was because the wicket was so good they struggled to make inroads into England's batting line-up and that is something we can maybe target.

"They haven't got a big 145kph-plus bowler or a trick spinner that some of the other teams may do and I think maybe we can probably target that side of their game a bit and go after them."

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza lamented that his side had been "20-30 runs short" against England, but he also struggled to contain the runs as Joe Root and Alex Hales targeted their part-timers.

The combination of Mosaddek Hossain, Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman – essentially Bangladesh's 'fifth bowler' – conceded 73 runs from a little more than 10 overs, while their frontline bowlers were also expensive.

The Tigers have plenty of bowling reinforcements available for Monday's match, which they must not lose in order to keep their chances of progressing to the semi-finals alive. Spinners Mehedi Hasan and Sunzamul Islam as well as pacemen Taskin Ahmed and Shafiul Islam all missed the England clash and could be in line for a recall in an attack that is headlined by star left-armer Mustafizur Rahman.

The wash-out against NZ means a loss could also be a tournament-ending blow to the Aussies, who faced a similarly perilous situation here four years ago when their lost their first match to England and saw their game against the Black Caps also ruined by rain.

"(It's) pretty similar to the last Champions Trophy against New Zealand when we had the wash-out," Maxwell said.

"There is obviously a bit more time now and it's basically become a knock-out stage for us.

"But I think we play pretty well in these sort of situations so hopefully we can have a good win on Monday and then a big decider against England (on Saturday)."

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)