England bat first as Duckett debuts

Alastair Cook marked his record-breaking 134th Test by winning the toss for England and choosing to bat first in the first Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong.

Cook, who arrived back in the country earlier this week having flown home for the birth of his second child, had no hesitation about taking first use of a typically flat and dry-looking surface, not dissimilar to the one on which he marked his captaincy debut on the 2010 tour with an agenda-setting innings of 173.

He will be joined at the top of the order by a brand-new partner. After speculation about which of the two potential debutants would be given their chance in this match, England plumped for Ben Duckett over Haseeb Hameed, following his composed showing in the ODI series earlier this month.

And further down the order, there is a second coming in England’s ranks, with Gareth Batty recalled to a spin-dominant attack for the first time in 4000 days. Batty, who played on England’s inaugural tour of Bangladesh in 2003-04, last featured in a Test at Chester-le-Street in May 2005, when Bangladesh were once again the opponents.

Bangladesh, for their part, have three debutants in their ranks – with the batsman Sabbir Rahman chosen alongside a brace of rookie bowlers, the paceman Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Mehedi Hasan, an 18-year-old offspinner.

This will be Bangladesh’s first Test since July 2015, following the cancellation of Australia’s tour last year. For England, it is the start of an eight-week Asian odyssey, with seven Tests coming up before Christmas, two in Bangladesh and five in India from November 9.

Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Mehedi Hasan, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Kamrul Islam Rabbi

England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Gary Ballance, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Gareth Batty, 11 Stuart Broad