Jimmy Maher to replace injured Damien Martyn

Australia have been forced to make a change ahead of their ICC Champions Trophy clash against Bangladesh on Thursday. Jimmy Maher takes the place of Damien Martyn, who suffered a hip injury while top-scoring with 73 in Australia's 164-run win over New Zealand on Sunday.

Australia are well placed to reach the semi final, as beating Bangladesh remains only a formality for this strong Aussie side. Skipper Ricky Ponting is extremely hopeful of having Martyn's services for the semi final game to be played on September 27, where their opponents will be the host nation Sri Lanka.

"Damien picked up a slight strain in his hip while batting," said captain Ricky Ponting. "He tried to have a run about yesterday but aggravated it so he stayed at the hotel today and we'll see if he can get over it with the semi-finals coming up."

Maher's inclusion is the only change to Australia's line-up from their opening match. Maher is expected to bat at six, allowing Michael Bevan to take Martyn's place at number four.

"Michael's not had much batting and that's why he's at four," said Ponting. "It would be nice if everyone in the batting and bowling line-up gets the chance for another solid hit-out."

Ponting admitted he knew little about Bangladesh, who have won only three one-day internationals in their history.

"We'll attack the Bangladesh game in exactly the same way as we did the New Zealand game," he said.

"We don't know that much about them and we had a fairly short team meeting yesterday, but we are probably focusing more on what we have to worry about rather than them at the moment.

"If we do the basics of one-day cricket well then everything else should look after itself," Ponting added.

The Australian team, who will remain in Colombo after the tournament for the first test of a three-match series against Pakistan, are set to spend the weekend in the nearby Maldives islands.

"It looks a nice place so we are planning to get away from cricket for a few days, take it easy then come back refreshed," said Ponting.

Bangladesh, who go into the game with no injury concerns, have decided to drop 18 year-old batsman Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful made a name for himself when he scored 114 against Sri Lanka on his Test debut to become the youngest ever Test centurion. He also scored 75 against Sri Lanka in a Test this year, but those two innings are his only scores over 50 in seven tests and seven one-day internationals.

"We are giving him a break because he is not getting any runs," team manager A.S.M. Faruque told reporters on Wednesday. Batsman Javed Omar, who missed the recent test and one-day tour of Sri Lanka with a knee injury, returns to the side. Young fast bowler Talha Jubair and off-spinner Fahim Muntasir are the others players left out from their squad of 14.

Teams:

Australia:

Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Bevan, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.

Bangladesh:

Khaled Mashud (captain), Al-Sahariar, Tapash Baishya, Habibul Bashar, Mazharul Haque, Tushar Imran, Manjural Islam, Alok Kapali, Khaled Mahmud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Rafique.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Russell Tiffin.

Third umpire: Srinivas Venkataraghavan, fourth umpire Steve Bucknor. Match referee Wasim Raja.