Australia to tour Bangladesh after World Cup

	The last time Australia played Bangladesh in a one-day match was in September 2008 © AFP Enlarge

Australia will tour Bangladesh for the first time since 2006 in April 2011, straight after the on-going World Cup, for a three-match bilateral one-day series. They are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on April 4, just two days after the World Cup final, and will play ODIs on April 9, April 11 and April 13, all at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.

In accordance with the ICC Future Tours Programme, Test playing nations must tour each other at least once every six years, and Australia have toured Bangladesh just once since they attained Test status. That tour was in April 2006 and Australia won both Tests and all three one-dayers. The FTP had Australia scheduled to play two Tests this time around as well, but the Bangladesh Cricket Board have announced Australia will leave immediately after the three ODIs.

One repercussion of the tour will be that the players from both teams' squads will miss the first week of the IPL, which begins on April 8. As many as 36 current Australia players were sold to IPL franchises during January's auction, while Shakib Al Hasan is the only Bangladesh player who is part of the Twenty20 tournament.

Australia have had a busy last five months, having played series against India, Sri Lanka and England in the lead-up to the World Cup. Bangladesh have enjoyed a slightly more spread-out schedule, with a couple of one-day home series the only cricket they played in the six months before the World Cup.

Bangladesh have beaten Australia just once in 16 one-dayers against them, back in 2007 in Cardiff. Since they last played Australia in September 2008, they have won 25 of their 53 one-day games, and have been on a good run at home, where they recently won series against New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.