Bangladesh look for another 'Cardiff' to upset Australia and improve rating in LG ICC ODI Championship table

Bangladesh will be looking for a repeat of one of the most famous days in its cricket history during the upcoming ODI series against Australia, which begins on Sunday.

The Tigers caused a massive upset when they beat the world champions at Cardiff last June and the players will be after something similar over the next week.

Any optimism Bangladesh feel about the task ahead may be based not only on memories of that previous victory but also its own recent ODI form.

The last time Habibul Bashar's side appeared in coloured clothing it beat Kenya 4-0 in March, successes that secured their place in October's Champions Trophy in India, and before that it took one match off Sri Lanka in a three-game series.

Australia's latest ODI action saw it fail to defend 434 against South Africa at The Wanderers and the fact is its players are now nearing the end of a sustained period on the road.

They could be forgiven for allowing thoughts of home and a long break to come to slip onto their collective agenda and that may be another potential reason for Bangladesh to believe it can spring a surprise.

But, on the other side of the coin, one look at the LG ICC ODI Championship table suggests even one win for the home side over the three matches will be a major achievement.

Ricky Ponting's touring line-up is 13 points clear of their nearest challengers, South Africa, in that table with third-placed India a further three points back, while Bangladesh lie in 10th place, 18 points adrift of Zimbabwe, the side immediately above it.

If that is not intimidating enough, the LG ICC Player Rankings may also lead even the most fervent Tigers supporter to wonder whether his side can really win a match.

Australia has five players in the top 11 batting spots led by Ponting, in second position and surely keen to regain top place after being unseated earlier this week by India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Below Ponting are Adam Gilchrist (3rd), Andrew Symonds (4th), Michael Hussey (6th) and Michael Clarke (11th) and all are players who can turn a ODI on its head on their own.

Bangladesh's highest-placed ODI batsman in the LG ICC Player Rankings is Mohammad Ashraful in 62nd spot but the Australians will be all too aware of what he can do. It was Ashraful's brilliant 100 in Cardiff that inspired his side to that famous win last year.

The touring side is without its leading bowler in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODIs, Glenn McGrath, as the veteran seamer (currently second in the list) opted out of the trip for personal reasons.

But despite his absence Australia still have plenty of quality back-up including Brett Lee (6th) and Nathan Bracken (8th). Bangladesh's best-placed bowler is left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, in 28th spot and just short of his best-ever haul of rating points.

Symonds is Australia's leading all-rounder in the LG ICC Player Rankings, in fourth place behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa, England's Andrew Flintoff and Irfan Pathan of India. Pollock tops the bowling table ahead of McGrath and Pathan.

An indication of the gap between the two sides is the fact that even if Australia wins all three matches in the series its rating in the LG ICC Test Championship table will remain at 132 while Bangladesh will drop by just one rating point to 23.

The rankings reward sides that punch above their weight and beat opponents above them in the table and so if Bangladesh wins one of the three matches its rating will improve by two points to 26 while Australia's will drop to 130.

Two wins for Bangladesh will see its rating rise by six points to 30 (Australia will slip to 128) and a 3-0 success will lift it to 33 rating points (Australia 126).

The schedule for the Bangladesh - Australia ODI series is as follows:

23 April - first ODI, Chittagong
26 April - second ODI, Fatullah
28 April - third ODI, Fatullah

Full details of the current LG ICC ODI Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here