Bangladesh v England - 3rd Test - at Dhaka - 1997/8 - Match Preview

 Bangladesh and England return to Dhaka for the 3rd and final Test of their series with England leading the series 2-0.

England have rested a number of first choice players for this one in order to give their players game time ahead of a tour of India, and this may give Bangladesh an outside chance of posting a victory.

Leg spinner Ian Salisbury, not in the original England squad, was flown in on the eve of the match due to the state of the pitch, the high bounce expected to favour his style of bowling more than the finger spinners.

Alec Stewart is set to captain the England side but gives up the gloves to reserve keeper Jack Russell for this one.

Pitch: 92 - Rather an odd looking pitch of varying colour and the groundsman is reported as being a little unhappy with his product. The wicket is likely to play reasonably for a couple of days but as the surface wears unevenly the bounce may be affected making batting difficult. If the wicket wears badly on the final day the batsmen will need to concern themselves about survival rather than embarking on a run chase.

Day 1 Starting Pitch: 4 - Normal wicket

Day 1 Weather: 2 - Hot and sunny

Bangladesh:

Javed Omar

Al Sahariar

Habibul Bashar

Aminul Islam (c) OB

Sanwar Hossain OB

Naimur Rahman OB

Khaled Mashud (wk)

Mushfiqur Rahman RFM

Mohammad Rafique SLA

Fahim Muntasir OB

Manjural Islam LMF

England:

A.J.Stewart (c)

N.V.Knight

G.A.Hick OB

M.R.Ramprakash OB

J.P.Crawley

A.J.Hollioake RMF

R.C.Russell (wk)

R.D.B.Croft OB

I.D.K.Salisbury LBG

D.W.Headley RFM

A.R.C.Fraser RFM

Dhaka hosts the 3rd and final Test of the series between Bangladesh and England in 1997/8