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DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Coach of the Sagicor High Performance Centre team Graeme West said his side will face a bigger challenge, when they meet the Bangladesh A-Team in a four-day, tour match, starting on Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

West said he too, was disappointed the Sagicor HPC team drew their first match on tour against the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy, but he was impressed with the way his side played.

He said the Bangladesh A-Team was far more experienced than the BCB Academy team however, and his side would have to lift their game another notch to remain competitive.

“We have had a little look at the opposition, and there is over 400 international matches in terms of experience between them,” West told WICB Media.

“They will be a far more experienced side and I am sure this will come across in the way they play, but it represents a great opportunity for our guys to perform against these players.”

He added: “We trained at the ground [on Friday] and it is a very impressive stadium and the players are very excited about playing there.

“They recognise that it is going to be a step up from the first match, but they are in good spirits, and we discussed some of the opposition batsmen, so we are ready for this next game.”

West said batsman Jermaine Blackwood and Dawnley Grant, left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cotterrell and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican will all play this time around.

But he said this quartet would be expected to perform at the same level or better than the players they will be replacing.

“I think we will need more contributions with the bat, since several players were dismissed for single figures, so I think everybody will need to contribute in this match,” he said.

“In the bowling, we feel we need to carry on from where we left off. The fast bowlers were very consistent, and the spinners, when they needed to defend, were able to do this, and when there was a chance to attack, they were able to do this with a lot of skill. It will be good to watch them now against batsmen with more experience.”

West said the players had settled down nicely, trying to cope with the challenging conditions, and he expected another sizeable crowd to watch the match over the weekend.

“The players really enjoyed playing in front of the big crowd in the first match,” he said. “People in this part of the World love their cricket, and gave their side the full backing in the first match, and made a lot of noise when they survived the last few overs.

“We have been told that the crowd is expected to be bigger for this next match, particularly with it starting on the weekend. . .so this again will be a great test for our players and take them a little bit closer to the environment that hopefully some of them will proceed to face when they get into the senior West Indies squad.”

Squads:

BANGLADESH-A (from): Roqibul Hasan (captain), Imrul Kayes (vice captain), Shahriar Nafees, Nasiruddin Faruque, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Naeem Islam, Farhad Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Enamul Haque Jr, Saqlain Sajib, Dhiman Ghosh

SAGICOR HPC (from): Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Marlon Barclay, Jermaine Blackwood, Yannic Cariah, Sheldon Cotterrell, Miguel Cummins, Jason Dawes, Andre Fletcher, Dawnley Grant, Trevon Griffith, Jahmar Hamilton, Kyle Hope, Keddy Lesporis, Kjorn Ottley, Veerasammy Permaul, Jomel Warrican

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