There's a lot of unknowns going in, says Hazlewood on Darwin Test

With over 400 games of professional cricket under his belt, Josh Hazlewood has a vast knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of many of the world's best batters.

In the first Test against Bangladesh however, that pool of information will be much smaller, simply due to the fact Australia rarely play against the Tigers, especially in Test cricket.

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Hazlewood missed the most recent Tests between the sides – in 2017 – and sat out the Aussies' tour there in June which included three ODIs and three T20Is.

The 34-year-old has faced the Asian nation only nine times across his illustrious, 15-year international career, with the last three of those games in various white-ball World Cups.

Combined with Australia's first Test match in Darwin in 22 years, the two-Test series present new scenarios that may challenge the Aussies' tactical preparation.

"There's a lot of unknowns going in," Hazlewood told the Unplayable Podcast.

"You've got the ground, that's an unknown. The wicket in particular, (and) the opposition in these conditions.

"So there are a lot of unknowns, but I think it's exciting.

"There's definitely footage and we can find some trends against these batters, but it might be a case of summing it up out there and coming up with plans on the run as well, which is always refreshing."

Unplayable Podcast co-host and former Aussie quick Kane Richardson, who spent much of his youth in Darwin, has warned the Australian fast bowlers to temper their expectations regarding the conditions.

Richardson expects the drop in pitch at Marrara Stadium to play on the slower side, given the baking, dry heat Darwin receives in the winter months.

He cited the two T20Is played between Australia and South Africa at the venue last year, which displayed a bit of "up-and-down" bounce.

"I'm not sure what to expect (regarding the conditions). It's not going to be Perth Stadium, day one, or the Gabba," Richardson said on the podcast.

"I don't think it will be that typical Australian Test pitch where the quicks are super effective in terms of seam movement and swing and bounce, but it could be more similar to what Bangladeshi conditions are, in terms of low bounce."

Hazlewood, who is sitting on 295 Test wickets, said the opportunity to create plans on the fly is exciting, but admitted he likes to keep his approach as concise as possible in the longest format.

"It's a pretty simple plan (for Test cricket)," Hazlewood said.

"It's just execution and it's execution for a long period of time. Things might change a little bit out there as the day goes on or the game goes on, but in general, it's a pretty simple game plan a lot of the time."