Cricket: Bangladesh sit on the sideline

Rain has foiled the first stage of Bangladesh's build-up to their two tests against New Zealand.

Their three-day match against a New Zealand Districts Association XI at Wanganui was abandoned yesterday because of rain which had barely let up since Friday night.

The Association XI reached 232 for three on Friday, but only four balls were delivered on Saturday, without the score being added to.

Bangladesh headed indoors for practice yesterday after the decision to abandon the game at a sodden Victoria Park was taken about 10 am.

Their next match is a four-day fixture against Auckland starting on Wednesday, but their coach, Trevor Chappell, was not hopeful about much play in that game either because of the weather forecast.

"It's a nuisance," Chappell said yesterday. "Everybody needs all the experience at three-day and four-day games that they can get."

The Bangladeshi players have limited experience of anything beyond one-day cricket in their domestic season, which runs from January through to April.

They played in the Asian test championships this year and have just hosted Zimbabwe.

"It would have been nice to have played below test level for the experience," Chappell said.

"We'd be a lot better off if we'd played here [Wanganui]."

The first test starts in Hamilton on December 18 and the second at the Basin Reserve from Boxing Day.

- NZPA