Sydney: Australia will field a full-strength team irrespective of Bangladesh's modest performances when it plays its inaugural Test series here in July-August, according to leading cricket officials on Thursday. Australia will play two Tests and three One-dayers against Bangladesh in the northern cities of Darwin and Cairns. Bangladesh is the worst team in international cricket losing 11 of its 17 Tests by more than an innings as well as recording losses by nine wickets, eight wickets (twice), seven wickets and 288 runs. It has one drawn result when more than two days were lost to rain against Zimbabwe. With Australia's cricketers in the midst of a heavy playing schedule there was some speculation that it would be an ideal opportunity to rest key players against the Bangladeshis. "It won't happen," selector and Australian Cricket Board member Allan Border said on Thursday. "It's a Test match - it doesn't matter who it's against. We wouldn't be doing the right thing for Bangladesh nor for our own players if we didn't pick a full-strength team." Chief selector Trevor Hohns said other factors like "statistics and money" were factors which would count against fielding a 'B' team. "My job is to pick the best side for Australia," Hohns said. "It's very difficult to ask the players to give someone else a game in their place - and there's statistics and money to think about as well. What we'll be doing as selectors is picking the best Australian side." Australian players get A $ 11,000 dollars ($ 6,600) per Test and statistically, there's a lot on offer against the world's weakest cricket side such as massive scores and record wicket hauls. Captain Steve Waugh can add to his record of having scored a century against every Test-playing nation. He's done it against the eight other Test sides but not against Bangladesh. Australian Cricket Board operations manager Michael Brown said the ACB also had to consider the development of Cairns and Darwin as Test venues. "We're making a very significant financial contribution - in terms of money and resources - to both Darwin and Cairns and to promote the series with a second-string team would make us unpopular to say the least," Brown said. Brown is in charge of working out ways to manage Australia's elite cricketers and his feedback is that while players were concerned about their workloads "they would play anywhere at anytime in order to wear a baggy green cap". Copyright AFP 2001

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