Smith embracing the unknown

Steve Smith admits there's a level of uncertainty over what Australia will come up against in their first Test in Bangladesh in more than a decade, as the densely populated nation prepares to host international cricket at the height of its monsoon season for the first time.

After touching down in steamy Dhaka late Friday, Australia's 14-man squad underwent a light gym session on Saturday as they got their first look at Sher-e Bangla National Stadium, the venue for the first Test of the Qantas Tour to begin Sunday week.

Quick single: Bangladesh name Test squad to play Aussies

It will be the first time international cricket has been played in Bangladesh during the month of August. The second Test, to begin September 4 in Chittagong, will also be Bangladesh’s first-ever September Test match.

In 2015, Bangladesh hosted South Africa in a Test that began on July 30, but the match ended in a sodden draw with just 88.1 overs bowled – and all of those on day one.

Image Id: 69A5A00199114F6CA1CFAF06518B3029 Image Caption: Only one day of play was possible in the second Test against SA in 2015 // Getty

Floods are presently affecting many parts of the country and it remains unclear whether Fatullah's Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, which recently became overrun by contaminated water, will be ready to host Australia's only tour match ahead of the series, a two-day game against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI slated to begin Tuesday.

"We're not entirely sure what we're going to get for this first Test match," Smith admitted on Saturday.

"Obviously there's been a bit of rain about and you don't know how much time the curator is going to get to get into the wicket.

"We'll have to adapt to whatever the wicket we come up against on the first morning of the Test match.

"Hopefully the weather holds off and we can get some good cricket in in this Test series."

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While Test cricket at this time of year is unprecedented in Bangladesh, spin remains the most likely method of attack Australia will be forced to weather.

In their last 10 Tests on home soil, Bangladesh's spinners have taken more than 84 per cent of their side's wickets, and on Saturday they named five frontline or all-round spinning options in their squad for the two-Test series.

Led by a 12-wicket haul from teenage off-spinner Mehedi Hasan, Bangladesh triumphed over England last October in Dhaka for a famous maiden Test victory against a side other than Zimbabwe or West Indies.

Australia on the other hand have won just one of seven Test series in Asia since their last visit to Bangladesh in 2006, though Smith believes his side’s fortunes on the subcontinent are starting to turn following encouraging performances against India earlier this year.

"It's going to be a very challenging series, Bangladesh have been playing some very good cricket here of late," said the 28-year-old, who plundered three hundreds and 499 runs in Australia’s 1-2 Border-Gavaskar series defeat in February-March.

"They beat England in a Test match here not too long ago so we're going to see it as a big challenge. 

"Conditions are always quite foreign to us when we come to the subcontinent, the wickets are always a lot different to what were used to back home. 

"I hope we can learn from what we did in our last Test series that we played in India. 

"I expect we'll come up against some pretty similar wickets that take a reasonable amount of spin and hopefully we can learn from what we did there."

Image Id: DE058AEE2F1D4ADAA573B8B3C2D62B11 Image Caption: Smith visited Bangladesh in 2011 // Getty

Smith's second trip to Bangladesh – he first played here as a fresh-faced 21-year-old on Australia's three-match ODI series in 2011 – sees him return as a vastly different prospect.

Cast as a leg-spinning allrounder in that series, Smith failed to reach double-figures with the bat, but he's since become one of world cricket's most dangerous batsmen.

"I personally haven’t been here since 2011 for the one day series," he said.

"It's been 11 years since the last Test was played here (against Australia) … a lot's changed since then."

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, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.

22-23 August Tour match, TBC

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong