Snubbed into history: Bangladesh about to match 142-year-old record by accident

On Saturday, Bangladesh will take the field in Mackay to play their fourth-ever Test on Australian soil and will accomplish a feat that previously only belonged to Australia’s greatest cricketing rival, England.

It is set to be the first-ever Test to be held at the Great Barrier Reef Arena – making it the 12th Test venue in Australia.

England have had the honour of featuring against Australia in the maiden Test of three out of the 11 previous Test venues.

The list includes the first Test ever held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1877, followed by the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 1882 and the Adelaide Oval in 1884.

All three venues since then have gone on to become iconic Test venues, and a staple of Australian Test cricket’s summer calendar.

On Saturday, Bangladesh will equal England, as for the third time they will feature in the maiden Test at an Australian venue.

When Bangladesh first toured Australia in 2003, they were not invited to the traditional Australian Test coliseums.

Instead, Bangladesh played in venues that hardly hosted top-drawer cricket, let alone Test cricket.

The first Test was at the Marrara Stadium in Darwin and the second one took place at the Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns.

Since hosting Bangladesh, Cairns has hosted only one Test – back in 2004 against Sri Lanka.

The same went for Darwin, till Bangladesh rolled up to Aussie shores for their second-ever Test tour and Cricket Australia (CA) suddenly remembered it has a Test venue stored away in the region, and chose it as the venue for the opening Test.

In Darwin, Bangladesh did the unthinkable, pulling off what former Australia batter Mark Waugh later declared “the biggest upset in Australia”, beating a full-strength Australia side by nine wickets.

Riding on a wave of confidence, Najmul Hossain Shanto and his troops arrived in Mackay on Wednesday, and will soon take their place alongside England.

Back in February this year, when it was announced that Bangladesh would be playing Tests in Darwin and Mackay, the CA rationalised it by saying this was part of their attempt to create another window for Test cricket at home, venues where Australia can host non-top Test-playing nations.

"It is no secret the international calendar is now crowded and we're fortunate to have world-class facilities available in August, ensuring we have another window for Test cricket outside summer," Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg had said in February.

Having the opening Test in Darwin worked in Bangladesh’s favour. The drop-in pitch at the Marrara Stadium did not produce the typical bouncy conditions one comes to expect in Australia.

Also, the wicket was a tad slower, which effectively neutralised the extra pace of the Aussie attack.

Moreover, a few Bangladesh players like Hasan Mahmud and Tanzid Hasan Tamim had played at the venue in recent years as part of Bangladesh ‘A’ team and High Performance XI tours.

The duo looked at home in Darwin, with Hasan finishing with a nine-wicket haul in the match and Tanzid scoring his maiden Test ton.

Australia are still reeling from the defeat, and are likely to hit back hard against the visitors in the second Test.

In Mackay, the conditions are likely to favour the Australian pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

The first-class record at the venue since 1995 shows that pacers average 23.67 per wicket at the venue in red-ball cricket, compared to spinners’ 31.76.

The Australian team will play the match to salvage their pride and the series, while Bangladesh will be hoping to carry on the momentum from Darwin and prove that what happened last week wasn’t a one-off.

As for the venue, the Great Barrier Reef has only hosted three men’s international matches before – two ODIs between Australia and South Africa in 2025 and, and a rain-affected World Cup clash between India and Sri Lanka in 1992 that was washed out after just two balls.

Its long wait for a Test will end on Saturday, in front of a sold-out crowd of around 10,000, who will be eagerly waiting to see how the visitors fare against the hosts after their historic win.