Test Match Special - History for Bangladesh as they beat Australia in Darwin

Episode Date: August 16, 2026

Reaction as Bangladesh complete one of the greatest shocks in cricket history, beating the number-one ranked Test side in Australia for the first time by nine wickets.We hear from player-of-the-match Hasan Mahmud, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, Australia's skipper Pat Cummins and also batter Steve Smith. Plus, analysis from Jim Maxwell, Corbin Middlemas, Jason Gillespie, Phil Jacques, Xavier Doherty and Ed Cowan.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello, Greg Jenner here. I'm the host of You're Dead to Me, the BBC comedy show that takes history seriously. Every episode, I pair up a top historian with a fantastic comedian and we have a lovely, funny, fascinating chat about a different subject from world history. And in this new series, we're beginning with an epic voyage through the story of Homer, the Iliad and The Odyssey. And that's with Kyle Smith Bino joining us. And then we'll be learning about Francis Galton and the racist disclosures. accredited pseudoscience of eugenics with Desiree Birch. We'll meet many medieval saints in their bone boxes with Rachel Parrott. So if that sounds like your sort of thing, listen to You're Dead to Me wherever you get your

podcast. Thank you. Bye. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Hello and welcome to a bonus edition of the Test Match special podcast. This is Henry Moran. In this episode, we're heading to Darwin for reaction to one of the great shocks in test match cricket history after Bangladesh beat Australia by nine wickets to record their first test victory down under. We'll be hearing from player of the match Hassan Mahmoud, captains Najmah Hussain Shanto and Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and also the thoughts of former Australian test cricketers Jason Gillespie, Ed Cowan and Xavier Doherty.

But first, the moment of history described at Marara Oval by Jim Maxwell. Mominels got the strike and one of the senior players in this side will he be the one that finds the boundary or will they I'll add the old days just get him in singles there's plenty of time but though they're so full of adrenaline

they want to finish this they don't have me hanging about the place get it over with Webster around the wicket and he cuts and that's going down towards the boundary that could be it. That will be it. Bangladesh have won the game. Won the game by nine wickets.

It's without doubt. One of the great, if not the greatest upset in the history of test cricket. Bangladesh who've been looked upon Zamino as an underling really in the world of test match cricket, particularly away from home. And their supporters are up and cheering here in Darwin. So remember that.

Bangladesh beat Australia in test cricket in Australia. In Darwin. That puts Darwin on the map as a test venue too. They've won this game with a couple of legs in the air. They've won by nine wickets with Mominal striking the ball away to the boundary to reach 30. And this is as bigger win as Bangladesh have ever had. and probably one of the more embarrassing defeats that Australia have ever suffered in test cricket.

They came here with everyone saying, well, will it last three days? Two and a half, maybe that'll be enough. And here we are on the fourth day, halfway through the fourth day, and Bangladesh have beaten Australia in their home patch by nine wickets. Certainly their biggest victory,

since coming into test cricket in the year 2000. And for Australia, a little bit of thinking to do before we get to Mackay. Congratulations to Bangladesh. That is a huge performance. Thoroughly outplayed Australia. This Bangladesh cricket team played good. We've talked about a good old-fashioned test cricket.

It's been absolutely superb. And they deserve to celebrate. The Bangladesh supporters here, Jimbo that you mentioned, the flags waving. everything imagine the scenes in Bangladesh imagine the scenes in Dhaka Chattagram it's only 150,000 people in Darwin there's about 180 million in Bangladesh oh the extraordinary scenes and look they deserve to celebrate it because their team their country have played excellent test match cricket here in Darwin and thoroughly

deserved this victory they should they should deservedly celebrate it A bit of thinking to do for the Australians. Congratulations and felicitations all over the place with the umpires and the players mingling on the field. And we're going to, of course, cover the end of match presentation and tell you a bit more about what's occurred here via the captains and the player-awarded man to the match. And very graciously, the Bangladesh players coming out

to acknowledge what has happened here against the much-vaunted Australian team, and they put them to the sword. They have completely outplayed Australia to have a huge victory here, souveniring a few stumps as they go. Yeah, and why not? It's a momentous occasion for these Bangladesh players. So let's go down to Grand Standard afternoon teas and stumps. Corbyn Middblast.

It's as great and upset as the game has ever seen. Bangladesh come to Australia and beat Australia. They outplay the number one ranked team in the world across four days to win by nine wickets. Welcome to Grand Standard Stamps, Corby Middlemast, Phil Jakes, Xavier Doherty on the Boundaries Edge, and I'm very pleased to say we're joined by Steve Smith from the Australian cricket team. Steve, first of all, hard luck on the back of four days of test cricket. What happened across these four days in Darwin? pretty simple. We were outplayed. I thought Bangladesh bowl really well the first morning,

really disciplined. That batters probably weren't disciplined enough. And then, yeah, second innings, they batted really nicely, got too many in front. And yeah, we weren't able to catch it up yesterday on, you know, what was a pretty decent wicket to bat on. A couple of us got starts and didn't go on with it. Greenie, I thought, played really nicely to get 100, but yeah, yeah, He didn't have any partners to go with him. Yeah, we needed probably 200 at least plus to be in the game there. And, yeah, as I said, got outplayed. You're an ageing team.

You've got an average age of 33 and a half, but you're the number one ranked team in the world for a reason. They're the number nine ranked team in the world. They've never pulled off an upset anywhere near this in the history of test cricket. You can imagine some of the reaction that will come for the team at the start of a huge test cycle. What is the appropriate level of analysis do you think to give to this? Is it just one bad week or is there something more that you can take out of what's happened here? Yeah, I mean, I hope it's one bad week.

Yeah, I mean, we're the number one team for a reason. We've played really good consistent cricket over a long period of time. And, yeah, this week was a bit of a blip. And, you know, we got outplayed. They played really nicely. So you've got to give credit to Bangladesh. Yeah, we could have done things a lot better. But, yeah, credit goes to them for the way they played throughout these last four days.

We obviously haven't seen the team in test cricket for eight months. What did you do in preparation to be right to go here in Darwin? We had lots of good training in Brisbane. The bowlers have been bowling up there for the last five weeks, I think it is. We had a camp last week that went for six or seven days. Guys were hitting numerous amount of balls. I actually thought I probably hit too many at this stage of my career. But it was, yeah, look, we prepared as well as we could for this.

there's no doubting our preparation I think we did all of that we just didn't turn up and play the game that we wanted and as I said we got outplayed you just touched on the preparation smudge I guess looking back the questions we'll be asked is the preparation you said it was good coming in

but you get judged on your results would you change that would you play a competitive match like your opposition did albeit it didn't go well for them but they got those cobwebs out of the way which seemingly probably wasn't the case with the batting group in particular I think you'll have to ask the coaching staff and stuff that question

but I think all the players felt like they were prepared to come and play this test match yeah it didn't pan out well for us but yeah we're a good side you know it's one bad week we'll recover from it and we'll come back strong next week from a batting perspective sponge obviously not enough runs first innings from a team perspective as I guess the leader of our batting unit and you scored some out there in that first innings and did quite well. What does this Australian team need to do in Macquay and that first inning to set the game up that little bit better?

Obviously, runs are important, but is there something you need to do to change the method about how you guys went about things in this first season? I think it's just playing the conditions. That first morning was pretty tricky. It was seeming round a bit. It was a bit soft underfoot. And they bowled really well.

So, yeah, I think a few of us probably could have been a little bit more disciplined in our shot selection. but yeah, we'll learn from it. We'll keep moving forward and, yeah, we'll come back next week, hopefully stronger. Smudge, Cam Green, obviously a very impressive knockout there today. Under extreme pressure, I guess the change rooms would have been proud of, you know, I guess understanding that sort of pressure, given that most players would know what it's like to sort of be under the pump for your spot in the team.

Just a word on how you saw that. Yeah, he was great. I thought he came out yesterday with, you know, really solid intent. His feet were moving really nicely. he was getting into the ball really well and I think that's when he's at his best. He's nice and confident. He goes through his routines that he does

and he was very clear in the way he wanted to go about it and I thought it was a really good innings and I'm sure he's going to take a great deal of confidence from it. Steve, appreciate your time. Hard luck here. We'll catch you, Mackay. Thank you. Cheers. Steve Smith, one of the all-time grades from the Australian cricket team. He obviously made 71 a top score for Australia

in their mega total of 198 batting first and then he also made 44 in the second dig. What a result. A chance for us to react to it now. Grandstand at Stumps on ABC Sport. Bangladesh are beaten Australia by nine wickets. They outplayed and outthought them across the four days. They won every session and just about every moment.

It was as comprehensive as it could possibly be. Corby Middleman, Savi, Doherty, Phil Jakeson, Jason Gillespie, along for the ride as we pick it all apart. You can probably hear the noise from the Bangladeshi fans. A few of the dignitaries have just made their way out to join the team, some of those from the... administration, some of those government officials that are out here for this particular event. This is a moment, Dizzy.

I know you spent a lot of time in Asia and your coaching journey and your cricketing career. The disappointment from Australia to one side, what a moment for the game. Oh, without a doubt, this is a momentous occasion. Can you imagine what it would be like in the streets in Bangladesh at the moment? Big crowds would be cheering, everyone would be so happy. We've got this small contingent of Bangladesh fans here. There's a big sign up there, so in Bangladesh, the flags, national flag waving. This is huge.

This is absolutely huge. It's great for the game of test cricket. I mean, the number one side in the world against the ninth team in the world. And not just beaten, Corby. Yep. This is a thorough thrashing. Nine wickets is a significant win in any test match. People were wondering whether it was going to get to the third or fourth day

because they're assuming that Australia we're going to win. win in that time. Bangladesh have beaten Australia by nine wickets in three and a half days. That's huge. And the guys who names a lot of cricket fans would have been learning this week. Hassam Mahmood ends up with nine wickets for the match, six in the first innings. Mahadi, Hassan Miraz, who's the world's third highest ranked all-rounder. Well, he proved it here.

He got runs. He took a five-for-in-the-second dig was spectacular. A hundred for tens at Hassan, who's a fringe player comes out, scores a ton, and then even Shadman Islam and Mom and Al-Huck could be able to guide them high. at the end and they were able to whip up the last 57 that they needed for the loss of only one wicket. So a dominant nine-wicket victory for Bangladesh. Phil Jakes, it was an incredible planning and execution to be able to see that cause and effect between. This is what we want to do and then to be able to go out there and carry it out and play from in front for such large

periods knowing the carrot at the end and knowing what was at stake for the country. What a professional victory from Bangladesh. Yeah, well summed up, Corby. is a well-planned, a well-led and a well-executed game plan from the Bangladeshis. They stuck to their plan the entire game with bat and ball, and executed better than Australia did. It's as simple as that. They played the conditions really well.

They got highly talented side, but what they did really, really well was they stuck to their plans and they stuck to their guns. Remember as well, Jakes, you know, they were coming off a practice match where they got bowled out for 54 in their second innings. So there would have been a couple of butterflies, a few question marks there for sure. Oh, they would have been super nervous, super nervous leading into this,

especially seeing the wicket first morning, and it was fresh. And then Australia battered, and they said, thank you very much, Merry Christmas. Happy birthday. Happy birthday and all of that. And then effectively bowled really well and then batted the house down in their go. Corby, I want to go back to your comment about Australian cricket fans not knowing much about the bank. I didn't know much about them. You know, they're not a team that we get to see very often.

You sort of, you see highlights. And, you know, when they get their win over Pakistan, you sort of see their players. But to actually see them in person and get to know them and watch how they go about their test cricket. Like that was a performance, wasn't it? Well, they played proper, old school. And I know this crew here that were standing on the boundary line, I really enjoyed that old school test cricket. It was so impressive and so great that, you know, we were here to witness it

and be able to follow their careers now, knowing that we've seen them in the flesh. Spot on. And they deserve to celebrate this and soak up this atmosphere. The atmosphere's been absolutely brilliant here at Mara Oval in Darwin. You know, full credit to NT cricket for putting this on. They've been absolutely brilliant. The fans that have come out, best part of 20,000 people have come out over these three and a half days. I think it's been superb.

It's been a great test match experience for everyone. We're so lucky to work with Jim Maxwell. And I often sit in the back of the box when Jim's commentating and he talks about Alan McGilveray. and I hope that I'm lucky enough to do this for a number of years and I'm sure we'll talk about Jim the same way that he talks about McGilvray and all the stuff that we learned from him. But to think about what a historian that Jim is and how much he loves the history of the game well before he commentated,

and then in his life as a commentator, which is 50-plus years that he's been doing it, and Jim's saying that this is as big an upset in the history of the game that he's seen. I know us, you know, that are relative newcomers in that sense, or the younger brigade, for example, we have a tendency to say, oh, the latest, the greatest, and everything else. But really when you look at some of the biggest upsets

that you can think of, this belongs right there at the top with any of them to think that the ninth ranked team in the world, Bangladesh, who were really a joke and a meme as such for cricket fans around the world, to come here and beat Australia, the number one ranked team in the world with a bunch of future Hall of Famers in their own backyard.

It's as big an upset as Test Cricket can produce. Yeah, there's no understating it. It's a huge upset. You know, they've got a few scalps along the way, Bangladesh, and they've been a much improved team. However, to beat Australia in Australia is no mean feat. It's an unbelievable victory and it's a massive boilover. Well, and you think about test cricket.

It's not 90 minutes of football. You've got to do it over five days. You know, it's not easy to produce an upset when it goes for such a long period of time. You know, this great Australian team have got so many opportunities to try and fight their way back into the game. And Bangladesh just kept the foot on the throat. They didn't allow them any of that.

So you talk about upsets and upsets in other sports. This is so much harder the fact that it goes so long. And the various versions of the game, the longer the sample size, the less likely you are to get an upset where class can tell over time, and yet they've done that here in the test arena. Hassan Mahmoud is the man of the match. We can join the presentation. He's with Adam Gilchrist.

Congratulations, mate. Let me start by saying, can you believe what you and your team have just achieved? Yeah, I think before the match in practice, We've been doing our best in every day and every second. And we keep on our mind that whatever it's happened, just be on yourself and follow the process and don't think about the outcome. Whatever happened, we have to go play for the five days and then results will come. Yeah, we got the job done in four days.

Coming into the game, did you look at that batting lineup for Australia, of which there's some highly recognized players? Did you have any specific individual plans mapped out? Or was it a more generic team plan? Yeah, we got some team plans, you know, sitting with the team guys and coaches, you know, watching the videos and make plans where we're going through. And then we did the same in the ground. And the conditions here, you would have enjoyed bowling first on that wicket. It's okay to have grass there, but you've still got to go out and execute.

You must be really thrilled with your patience and persistence on day one. Yeah, I think every bowl has done very good with their patience and with the process they follow. just be on the line and lens and keep going it. And then results is here now. All right. And what about back home in Bangladesh, friends and family? They'll be celebrating. Yeah, obviously they got very happy for me.

And obviously my people in town is very going to happy. They'll see me back in Bangladesh and they will be celebrating. Yeah, deservedly so. Well, congratulations. We'll see you, Makai. Thank you so much. There you go. The man of the match there, nine wickets.

Hassan Mahmood now will call on Pat Cummins, Captain of Australia. Pat? Mate, obviously hasn't gone your way. I guess it's early days yet, but is there any area you can pinpoint that the defeat started? Was it day one?

Was it a preparation? Which inevitably questions come up around that? You're not a team that panics, but where does your mind go to first? Yeah, probably that day one. I thought our preparation was, you know, pretty much spot on. I thought it was excellent.

So, yeah, no excuses. They played really well. You know, I thought the day one, I'm a little bit in early, but obviously got to try and find a way to bat a little bit longer than we did. And then, yeah, just couldn't penetrate with the ball. But, yeah, I thought they played really well. Yeah, the batting, again, didn't quite capitalize on a few starts. Not much time to turn it around.

Does the groups remain the same? Are there thoughts of any changes? I think every time there's a game like this, you always kind of look at your matchups and, you know, your make up with the team for the next one. But, yeah, we only just finished. So who will ever think about it. You know, we're pretty good at bouncing back, so no doubt the batters and every group will get together and have a good think about this one and where we can improve. Yeah, you're quick to acknowledge your opposition as well. They played very, very well.

Yeah, they did. I think they, yeah, I played us in all facets, really. Yeah, I thought they were really patient and quite disciplined. And, yeah, once we're behind, it was really hard to get back. The shining lights, probably two that stand out. Josh Hazelwood, past 300, deservedly so. He's going to end one as one of the greats. And Cam Green today, that's a very, very special. moment, significant for him in his career perhaps? Yeah, for both of them. Josh, he hasn't had a great run for injuries the last couple of years,

but he's one of the hardest workers and, yeah, he just showed his class. And a weekend didn't have too much in it, you know, scene-wise, still picking up six really important wicket. So he was fantastic, and then Greenie, again, I thought, you know, those tempo this innings showed how good he years. Yeah, just needed a couple of us to hang around with him, but it was fantastic. All right, mate. Well, as I say, a few days' time.

We'll be up to Mackay, and we'll see you on Saturday. best there, mate. Thanks, good. Cheers, man. Yes, Pat Cummins. And now the victorious skipper, Najmul Hussain Shanto of Bangladesh. Congratulations, mate. Well, first of all, what a proud moment. You're the captain of a team to achieve something no one else has been able to do from Bangladesh, and that's win a test match here on Australian soil. You must be extremely proud. Yeah, very happy and proud of myself and the way boys played, really proud of that. And then we did a lot of hard work and really happy to win a side.

There's so much to talk about to you about such a fine victory. I want to go back to day one, Hassan picking up six wickets. And all 10 wickets going to seem bowlers. Was there a change in the mindset of Bangladesh cricket at any stage recently to really hone those fast bowling skills and get a collection of fast bowlers, not just rely on spin? Yeah, obviously I think that is the biggest change in Bangladesh cricket in the test format.

Normally in five, six years before the baseball don't want it to play test cricket. Because we didn't enough chance to play test cricket. But last two, three years we have been playing a lot of test matches and boys are getting importance, their test format. So they now wanted to play and they wanted to perform because they wanted to be a world-class. So that is the mindset I have there. And especially the senior guy we have Musfukhury Hemp, Mominul-ul-Hulk, they helped them a lot to encourage to play test cricket.

So those are the areas they think and the mindset. Amazing game for Tanzard. Just his second test match belief shown in him and he's come out and delivered. Yeah, obviously I think he's exciting. If you look at his white ball game, he always play attacking cricket. But in this test match, he shows his character. He was very calm and play merit of the ball. And we all know he has that ability to play test cricket.

And as top order batsmen, we want someone to impact for the team and he delivered this match. Yeah, and so too did Mahadi as well. Just tell me in the big picture, where does this rank? Is this Bangladesh cricket's finest ever moment? Yeah, obviously. I think this is the biggest win so far, Bangladesh cricket in any format. We believe that and going forward we will do something special going in future.

You'll do something special indeed. So there's belief you can not just win once, you think there's enough there, enough evidence, can go on and take a clean sweep over in Mackay? Yes, we have that evidence, but we need to play good cricket. As I said, before this test match, we need to play five days of good cricket. So again, I am going to say the same thing, five days of cricket need to play properly. And then as we did this test match, follow the process and play session by session,

bowlers did their job, batsmen chipped in, and especially the lower middle order and the lower order the way they batted. So those are the things we need to play in Maccahy. Yeah, well, you led the team beautifully, mate. Congratulations to do a very proud moment and enjoy your celebrations. And all that happens back home in Bangladesh, I'm sure they'll be all wishing you the very best as well. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you.

There you are. Very happy Bangladesh. Adam Gilchrist there at the presentation speaking with Najmoshanthu and the man of the match, Osamaud, also the captain of Australia in between there, Pat Cummins. Bangladesh have won the first test by nine wickets. They've outplayed Australia across four days. A couple of things to call out here. Before that presentation took place, the whole Bangladesh team went into the rooms.

There was a whole lot of noise and cheers that went on around it. They were on a FaceTime call to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, who had called through immediately after the game to chat to the team. They have then come back out, and the two dressing rooms here are located, what would be sort of either side of the main grandstand. So if you've got that visual huge grandstand, which runs down the side of the ground, sort of square to the wicket, and they're at opposite ends,

and the presentation is happening closer to where the Australian races and their dressing room, and yet the entire team has come over to the presentation to basically listen to the captain speaker, the man of the match, which is they're just amazing scenes. You can see it on the faces of these players how much this wins means to Bangladesh. Without a doubt, you imagine that.

You get a FaceTime call from the Prime Minister, immediately the aftermath of a wonderful test victory. It looks like the teams heading over here, Corby. They're setting up some seats. the ground here at Marara. So they obviously want to get an official photo. An official photo to caption. And what a memory that will be for everyone that's involved with this Bangladesh side.

Would it be absolutely brilliant though? Yeah, but not at the end of their careers. You know, 20 years, 40 years, 50 years, like people who are here will remember it. Like, this is going to go down in history. And the fact that they've ducked in for a quick phase time for the Prime Minister suggested, doesn't it? Like, this is a historical moment for Bangladesh cricket. We'll pull apart this for the rest of the day, I'm sure.

We're on a time crunch, though, on our way out. So just to segue to the Aussies, we'll come back to the winners and Bangladesh. I asked this question earlier. What is the appropriate level of analysis here? So we're trying to not get caught too much in, you know, it's a catastrophe, it's a disaster, to tear it all down. And also at the same time, I don't think you can behave, nothing to see here and ignore the clues.

So four days in a row, an ageing team with an average age of 33 and a half gets outplayed by the ninth ranked team in the world at home. How should Australia sum this up when they get the chance to review these four days? Well, you hear it all the time in footy core. The loss you've got to have and it happens in the lead-in to finals when the big games really start to happen. Perhaps that's the view that Australia takes here. Is this the loss, you know, the kick-up the backside that Andrew McDonald and George Bailey

and whoever else is involved in that meeting they have is like, right, we need to actually reassess. And the kick-up the bum to the 11 players or 12 players, whoever might be as well, is like, right, we need to work a little bit harder here. You know, and clearly there was a shift in mindset change for the batters going into the second innings. The game was too far gone by then, but clearly there was a change, and I'm sure there would be an even bigger change in their batting. They won't bathe like that again in Mackay, the Australians.

They won't come out and just throw it to the wind in the first innings. There was a mind shift change and a technique change and all those sorts of things. So, yeah, there will be fallout, but I think it's probably, they'll take it from, you know, that good, the positive lens of, you know, maybe that's the kick up the bum we need it. Did they take Bangladesh too lightly? Look, it'd be easy to say that, wouldn't it? I think where they potentially got it wrong was the toss. Won the toss and decided to bat.

It was probably going to be, I think we all acknowledge, it was probably going to be the best time to bowl in this match was the very first morning. But having said that, the surface looked pretty good, Jakesy, didn't it? It looked like, yes, it was a typical surface where you know it's going to offer some assistance early on, but then it settled down relatively quickly, didn't it? Yeah, I'm going to say it was a really good cricket wicket.

It was a good day-one test wicket. You wouldn't have been upset if you were opening the batting and having to go out there, and you wouldn't be upset if you had the new ball in your hand. They just didn't execute as well as they needed to on that first morning, and they were constantly behind the game, and we as even commentators were looking for that hour, two hours that Australia would break the game open,

and it just never came. Bangladesh outplayed us. in all facets. Well, Bangladesh didn't allow Australia. They didn't allow them to have that, no. They constantly build another partnership. They didn't lose wickets in clumps, which is often what you see from this Bangladesh team.

And they just rebuilt. Every time they lost the wicket, they rebuilt, formed another partnership, took it a little bit deeper, brought the bowlers back again. And it really was a world-class performance from Bangladesh. Eight months is a long layoff and you've got a bunch of guys in their mid-to-early 30s.

And so the question, will be there and even if it's not, you know, the likely option, there's a chance that, you know, at a certain point, guys go off a cliff. It's what, it's what's happened in the history of the game. And so you wonder at a certain point, you know, after such a long layoff, is there a part that maybe the guys will never get back to their prime again or close to it? And that's what they'll have to try and sum up here with obviously a number of test matches in front of them, because once they start happening, they come pretty thick and fast. So they've got Mackay next. And we don't expect them to make any major sort of reactions or major changes for the next test starting on

Saturday. But she, I'd wanted to get it together in a hurry, wouldn't they, after what we saw here? Because as you touched on throughout the test, Xavier, they had multiple chances where we thought, you know what, they'll flex here, they'll jump back on top. And it never came across four days of cricket. No, it didn't. And it's only, time's going to be the only teller there, isn't it, Corb? You know, are they past it? You know, no doubt that there'll be some seeds of doubt within those 36, 37-year-old's minds now that, yeah, I've had that layoff, you know, of coming back from an injury, whatever it might be. And I think that's just the human reaction.

So that will sow a seed of doubt. But time will tell whether they're gone. They have put a lot of trust in these guys, and they've played some very, very good cricket against some good cricket teams in their careers. So, yeah, it's one game. But in five days' time, we'll tell us, you know, another story, I guess. This is Grandstand at Stumps. Bangladesh have won by nine wickets as big an upset as test cricket as ever seen here at Marara Oval in Darwin.

Great to have you with us on ABC Sport. If you're catching up through the podcast feed, ABC Cricket Podcasts. Wherever you get your podcast, Ed Cowan joins me. Each Monday as we pull apart the hot button issues in the world of cricket. What we've incorporated as part of Grandstand at Stamps is Teddy's thought of the day. And here it is at the completion of day four. This is what Ed Cowan has to say at the completion of the first. test.

Oh, that is some historic win for Bangladesh. It's one of those moments that you pinch yourself and say, where was I? When? And there's so many moments to dissect in this game, I actually wish I was there helping you out on this one. But podcast with Corb tomorrow, we've got a pretty endless agenda. The thought for the day that I just can't get out of my head today was that interview that Corbyn had with Mitch Stark last night.

Was it just me? Or could you sense the frustration, maybe even a touch of embarrassment of this performance? And yet, there was just a lack of vulnerability to say that they got it wrong. And of course, it's not for the first time that Australia has started slowly in Test Series. If you think back to the Indian series,

they were pathetic in Perth, lost that game, they were hopeless against England. They should have lost that game, all by being saved by Travis Head. And of course, for fast bowlers, you can ease into a game or a series by the virtue of always getting another ball. But it seems like that psychology's almost leaked into that of the top six. So I'm curious how long they're going to persist with not demanding big runs from their batters.

And you got a bit of an insight from Nathan Lyon earlier in the game that the bowling group had lost a little bit of patience. I do wonder if this is the straw that breaks the camels back on a selection philosophy of enduring. Can't wait to hear the breakdown. That is Ed Cowan, of course, you'll hear him in his entirety on the ABC Cricket podcast on Monday. We'll pick up on a couple of those threads with our guys here. Xavier Doherty, Phil Jakes, Jason Gillespie and myself Corp and Middlemast in just a moment on Grand Standard Stumps. But a break in what we're chatting about here to chat to the man at the moment.

Hassam Mahmoud joins us at the completion of the test, and you've got a big gaudy medal around your neck, Hassan on the back of winning man of the match honours. Congratulations. What does this moment mean for you and for Bangladesh cricket? Oh, it's been amazing. If you win a test match, it's different. If you're opponent playing an opponent is one of the best team in the world. And you are going to win the game and you feel different level. Did you think this was possible when you came down to Australia? Yeah, we were just thinking, just getting better day by day

and coming into the practice and, you know, follow your forces. come to the game and think about session by session, and then it's ended up like this. Hassar, what have you been working on with your bowling to improve, to be ready for this series against Australia? Yep. We've been bowling and training so, so hard, especially fast bowlers. They're very much intent with their bowling and in the practice with a new ball and, you know, try to be on spot every time when they're, you know, doing their jobs. So, you know, that's affecting the game as well. and we're very happy now.

Hassan, at what stage did you think you were going to win? What was there one moment where you thought, right, we are going to beat the Australians? You know, for the first day, we actually, you know, starting to think about it. And, you know, once they win the toss and we're going to bowl first, that's the actually thing we're getting started thinking. That's, yeah, that's the moment we got to keep on and we're going to catch it out from the first ball. So that's how we, you know, going through all day. Hassan, great test match, well done.

Bowl beautifully in first inning, second innings. What does the celebration look like, beating Australia in Australia for this Bangladeshi team? It's a huge thing for Bangladesh. I mean, last couple of years, even training hard and giving your best in every test match. But, you know, sometimes we don't get that much winning. But sometimes you take it as a growth to some of it. where you go along your players with you and cheering up from the back

and you got some seniors players in the game in the team and they're supporting each and every day and that's how you grow. Hassan, have you had a call from somebody very important back home post-game? Yeah, that's the prime minister. He's just called on the video call and then everybody was cheering up.

What did he say? He said, congratulations, and then he's very happy and he's going to wait for us in Bangladesh and once you go they're going to meet and we're going to chat a few about the game. How does that make you feel? I mean, huge, you know, meeting and president in Bangladesh. It's different things.

Have you heard from many other people back home how this is resonating, how important the team's performance has been to people in Bangladesh? I think they're all cheering up now in Bangladesh and really happy. And they're always, you know, backing us in the game. you know, the crowd here from Bangladesh every time. And I hope that they're going to come in next game and, you know, cheering up for us. Congratulations.

With no hyperbole, it's as big an upset as test cricket has ever had. Congratulations. Awesome to be part of it. Appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Hassam Mahmood, not just part of it. He was as big a part of it as could possibly be the man of the match,

Hassan Mahmoud and the Bangladesh cricket team with a substantial upset to beat Australia in Darwin by 9. wickets. How well did he bowl though? Like, Jakes, you mentioned it in the interview with him. He bowled superbly. His lines, his lengths, his disciplines, presented the scene, wrist and fingers behind the ball. Like Damien Fleming would refer to it as Bowology 101. He just kept things simple, presented the seam and just got that little bit of seam movement off the pitch. I thought he was excellent. Yeah, he did his job. He did everything required, hardly bowled a bad ball, and was constantly at each and every one of the Australian butters. And, um, a, um, a

worthy men of the match. We're jumping around all over the place here and for good reason, but we did play Ed Cowan's thought of the day a few moments ago. So he spoke about the lack of vulnerability in the team. He also spoke about the fact how long of the selectors is going to continue to tolerate a lack of big runs out of their batsmen. What do you think the answer is to that? First of all, just the image I had of Ed Cowan, do they, was sitting in front of an open fire in a big leather chair, sipping on a brandy stroking a cat. I don't think that's that far removed from that. That's probably about right.

But look, he made some really good points. I think, you know, he touched on your question that you asked Mitchell Stark last night. And it's clear that he said that there's a sense of, he used the term embarrassment, didn't he? A sense of embarrassment. I'm not sure I saw that. I heard a bit of defensiveness. And we know what we're doing. We're very experienced.

I actually get that. They are very experienced group of players. They've played a lot together. They know what they need to do to prepare well. They've won a lot of test cricket over many, many years. So in a funny kind of way, I kind of get the defensiveness, but I thought it was very quick to go back at your call me. And that says to me maybe there's just what Eddie's talking about.

Maybe a little bit of question marks is creeping in. I'm not sure. They are an old team. I mean, Sam Perry on the grade cricket have put it last night where he was talking really about investment. And he said, you're either investing into the future or you're reaping the dividends, basically, for having put the investment in down the track.

When you've got a team that's 33 and a half and you've got a bunch of old guys and you've got these Banner series coming up, trips to South Africa and India and England and everything else, you're in the let's get the dividend for our investment now, that we've put all this time and we've stuck with the group and now it's time to pay off. It's not let's lose to Bangladesh in the first game of the cycle.

And then all of a sudden you think, well, what phase are we in? Are we reaping the rewards or are we, Do we go right back and put some tests into a new generation? So in years to come, we've, you know, we've, what is it, watered the tree that someone else gets the chance to sit under because at the moment it's neither. Well, that's exactly right. After a big series like the Ashes,

there's normally a rebuild for the next cycle. And there wasn't a rebuild. They looked at this test schedule and said, we need this team together. We need the experience of this team together to get these 20 test matches won. And to lose, we're the full strength to fight against an undermanned Bangladesh team. It has to create some questions within the group,

whether they've done the right thing, whether there needs to be changes to be made. However, we know that this selection group and this leadership group aren't knee-jerk reactors. They don't jump at ghosts and shadows. They make informed decisions, and then they give players one more game than one less game. I think they'll give them a Kai,

and then if there's not a market a bit of a bit of, improvement there'll be a rebuild. It makes Mikey huge, doesn't it? Mass. Like, so big, you know, and it was great that Green came out and answered some of his critics and, like, the pressure, I think, you know, we've all been there in our careers at some stage. Like, it's awful. Sometimes you just want the, you know, to be swallowed

up whole and all just to go away. He had that weight on his shoulders, Cam Green, and he's answered those critics. So I guess that's, that is one answer that Australia won't have, I guess, going forward in the short term. But there are a couple of other ones and, you know, I'm on with Jakesy. I don't think, I think it'll

the same 11, you know, believe it or not, after such a result. But those guys who do have those shadows over them, it is huge for them. We'll be there for it. So Saturday you can catch it all right here on ABC Sport. Gee, I'm glad I made the trip. As I'm sure all you guys are, we appreciate you. You're coming up for it. What a test match.

So Bangladesh, on the wrong side of the toss, Australia decided to have a hit first, all out 198. Hassar Mahmoud, who we just spoke to, six for 55. Travis Head, bizarrely was bold and then put the bail back on the stump. That's something you don't see every day when a player is dismissed and gets out in that kind of fashion. And then Bangladesh had the chance to have a hit. They batted for 138 overs, made 426, 100 for tens at Hassan

and a number of other contributions. And then Australia batting a second time. Well, they got something out of the game. Cam Green managed to score his first 100 on home soil. But it was Metti Hassan Miraz, who was the star there, with five for 66. The victory target was just 57. They would have had to try and defend

the lowest fourth innings target ever to win a test match, the Aussies. They only got the one wicket. That was Tansett Hassan, who was out for a duck. Hazelwood picked up his scalp, which ended up giving him the seven wickets for the match, but Bangladesh too good.

They got there just one down to win by nine wickets in what is going to be. A test match that we won't soon forget here in Darwin, stunning weather, and tremendous cricket in which one team. out played the other as predicted across all four days. And it wasn't the team that people expected.

Bangladesh, of course, as big an upset as we've seen. Oh, well, the biggest upset that we've seen. There's absolutely no doubt about it. You've summed it up very well there, Corby. It was a great test match, a great feel, great atmosphere here at Marara. And, yeah, I think we witnessed something pretty special. It was obviously disappointment for the Australians and Australian supporters, but elation for the Bangladesh supporters have come out here.

and I'm sure everyone at home in Bangladesh dancing in the streets at the moment. The TMS podcast on BBC Sounds. Well, no doubt the celebrations will continue for many days to come. What an extraordinary story coming from Australia this Sunday. Test match cricket returns meanwhile to England very soon. Wednesday 19th of August sees the first test between England's men and Pakistan at Headingley. We'll be live on air 1025 on 5 sports extra and BBC Sounds.

Don't forget today at the test has your highlights and don't miss an episode of the Test Match Special podcast. Just subscribe on BBC Sounds. Thanks so much for listening. We'll speak to you again soon. This goes beyond what the KGB did back in the days. Conspiracy theories and the Football World Cup is there ever one without the other?

Well, I've been digging into one of the very best back in 1994. Guy from Iraq gets a red card for a, you know, a dubious tackle. I'm James Montague and from BBC 5 Live, this is Sports Strangers Crimes Presents

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