Australia women seek pre-World Cup intel from Bangladesh tour

Australia women's team are eyeing their maiden bilateral series in Bangladesh in March as an important tour ahead of the ICC Women's Twenty20 World Cup later this year which will be hosted in the same country.

The Aussies will play an ODI and T20 series against the Nigar Sultana Joty-led team which their national selector Shawn Fledger views as a valuable opportunity to gather information about the playing surfaces in Bangladesh ahead of the T20 World Cup.

"We've got a couple of venues in Bangladesh that the World Cup will be played at so that will be part of the investigating during the tour, about how wickets are going to play," Flegler told ESPNCricinfo.

The Bangladesh tour will give the defending champions a chance to gain first-hand experience of what it's like to play T20s in this part of the world.

The Australian women have travelled to Bangladesh only once before, way back in 2014 during the T20 World Cup, where they defeated England in the final to lift the trophy.

Only four members of that champion Australia side – Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen – remain in the current setup.

Earlier, Bangladesh captain Joty termed the forthcoming series against the world champions as a great opportunity for the Tigresses to test their mettle.