Darwin: Seamer Stuart Clark said Australia's lopsided one-day series against Bangladesh has been a worthwhile hit-out ahead of next month's tough tour against fierce rivals India.
The three-match series, in which Australia has an unbeatable 2-0 lead after 180-run and eight-wicket thrashings this week, wraps up on Saturday.
It was initially scheduled as a warm-up for the now-postponed Champions Trophy, meaning Australia's next commitment is a gruelling, and possibly contentious, four-Test tour of India.
"It's hard when you haven't played for a while and you need to come back in, sometimes the best way to do it is to play," Clark said.
"Okay, the opposition haven't been as good as they'd like to be, but it's still a very good lead-in and experience for what's ahead."
Australia depart for India on Sept 21 and the first Test in Bangalore starts on Oct 9.
India's Test and one-day matches in Australia earlier this year were marred by a series of spats including a racially charged dispute between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds.
Clark said Darwin's heat and humidity conditions were good preparation for conditions in India.
"It's been tough," Clark said. "I won't lie and say it's been easy, it's been tough because of the humidity.
"It's part of playing cricket, it's what the conditions are like in many places around the world where we play, so it's something we really need to get used to."
Neither Clark or leading paceman Brett Lee have played Test cricket in India, but the seamer was confident that inexperience wouldn't be a problem.
"We're lucky enough to have all played cricket (in India), whether it be one-day cricket or IPL," Clark said.
"We'll look at some sort of footage and draw on the experiences of the guys who did play there in 2004.
"We're going a little bit early now, and make our own adjustments to conditions that aren't like Australia."
Clark added Australia were looking for another big win on Saturday to compete the clean sweep of Bangladesh.
AFP
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