Bangladesh obtained Test status in June 2000, playing its inaugural Test the following November at Dhaka against India.  32 year-old Aminul Islam - one of only two players taking part born before Bangladesh's independence - scored his country's first Test century (145) in the historic Test match against India but Bangladesh was defeated by nine wickets. Bangladesh Cricket Board President  Saber Hossain Chowdhury agreed that Bangladesh would play as many as 36 Tests during the next five years, starting with plans to visit Zimbabwe and New Zealand in 2001.

TOURS by BANGLADESH             Click on a Test tour made by Bangladesh   [where UNDERLINED]   Some pages still in preparation                         

The former East Pakistan province gained its independence as the new nation of Bangladesh in 1971 at the end of the war between Pakistan and India.

Despite the fanatical interest in cricket, East Pakistan, as one half of the state of Pakistan, had never been an equal with West Pakistan in cricketing terms - no East Pakistani had won a place in the Pakistan Test team.  The nearest was Raqibul Hasan, who as a 16 year-old, was twelfth man in a Test match against New Zealand at Dhaka in 1969-70 and appeared in the full-strength Pakistan side in an unofficial Test against the Commonwealth XI in 1970-71.

Paradoxically, it was Bangladesh's successes in one-day cricket that led to Test match participation, firstly winning the ICC Trophy in 1997 and secondly a World Cup match victory over Pakistan in 1999.

The Bangladesh Cricket Control Board was established in 1972 but building cricket leagues and raising standards was a slow process.

Bangladesh became an Associate member of the ICC in 1977, and participated in the ICC Trophy tournaments of 1979, 1982, 1986 and 1990, making gradual improvement until winning the Trophy in 1997.  Overseas tours began with visits to Kenya (1984) and Pakistan (1986).

The Board had hired foreign Test players as coaches to guide her towards Test proficiency, but Mohinder Amarnath left after the team’s poor showing in a one-day Cup in Kenya in 1997.  Replacement coach Gordon Greenidge, acclaimed after winning the ICC Trophy, was then sacked on the very day of the victory over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup match which was to lead to full membership of the ICC.   Another new coach was needed when the South African Eddie Barlow stepped down for health reasons.

In February 2001, as part of the cooperation with Australia for cricket development, the Bangladesh Cricket Board signed an agreement with Trevor Chappell, younger brother of  former Australian Test captains Greg and Ian Chappell, to be responsible for coaching the national side, while another Australian, John Gloster, became the team's physiotherapist, replacing Gavin Benfield.

Chappell began a two-year contract when he took charge in mid-March, to coach the Bangladesh national team through its early tours and home Tests.

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