Tomorrow, at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh meet for the first time in a Test match. It will be Zimbabwe's 49th Test in nine seasons, while it will be only the second for Bangladesh.

The odds must favour the home side to win convincingly, quite possibly by an innings. Experience is the critical factor. Bangladesh, in their matches to date, have shown talent but not the experience and staying power that is necessary at Test level – which is perhaps inevitable.

Since gaining their independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh did not play first-class cricket again until three seasons ago. They were granted official one-day international status, which gave them experience against the world's top players, but only at one-day level. In the last three seasons they have suffered some embarrassing humiliations away from home in the longer game and have only a few matches against the A teams from other countries behind them at representative level, apart from their inaugural Test against India a few months ago.

They found, as Zimbabwe did in their inaugural Test against the same opposition in 1992, that adrenaline helped them to play above themselves at the start of the match and they posted a total of more than 400. But they lacked the staying power and went down, in the end, to a heavy defeat. If they can draw on sufficient adrenaline at Queens Sports Club, they might just succeed in forcing a draw on that superb batting pitch, but that would be a remarkable achievement and probably possible only if Zimbabwe are over-confident. A victory would be earth-shattering, but Zimbabwe are never quite predictable.

If, as one would expect, Zimbabwe are able to emphasize the enormous gulf between Test-playing countries and the rest, it may be a good thing: it may force the ICC to look more carefully at how they nurture countries on the verge of Test status. Kenya would appear to be the next candidate. Bangladesh really needed more support before being awarded Test status. They would have benefited from more A-team tours, both home and away, to play quality opposition over at least four days. Zimbabwe did at least have an unbroken history of first-class cricket against quality opposition ever since the Second World War, but they are still struggling against their seniors in Test cricket.

Returning to tomorrow's Test match, the Zimbabwe side is as follows:

Batsmen: Guy Whittall, Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower (wicket-keeper), Grant Flower.

Pace bowlers: Heath Streak, Mluleki Nkala, Andy Blignaut, Brighton Watambwa.

Spin bowlers: Brian Murphy, Raymond Price.

The most notable omissions are Gavin Rennie and the Strang brothers, Paul and Bryan. Rennie can feel particularly hard done by at the hands, or knives, of the selectors. In Zimbabwe's most recent Test match, in New Zealand, he scored 93 and 37, top score in both innings, yet he is dumped unceremoniously when the side desperately needs experienced opening batsmen. He has not been in the best of form during the Logan Cup – although much better than Alistair Campbell - but he scored a good-looking unbeaten 79 for Zimbabwe A against Bangladesh last weekend.

One can only assume he has been omitted as the most junior of the specialist batsmen when the selectors want to bring on Dion Ebrahim, who really does deserve a chance at international level. Presumably, though, Ebrahim will be required to open the innings with Guy Whittall, who is also not a natural opening batsman. Whittall has been opening since midway through the tour of England, while Ebrahim only started opening during the Logan Cup programme. Grant Flower does not expect to return to opening yet, although the selectors might surprise him. They have a habit of springing surprises.

The omission of Bryan Strang could well be simply a policy of horses for courses. He does not enjoy bowling on the Queens pitch, which gives him very little help, and may well be restored for the Second Test on the far more accommodating Harare Sports Club pitch.

But if it is a case of horses for courses, why leave out his brother Paul, who took 10 wickets on this very ground seven months ago against New Zealand? Paul was injured during India and Brian Murphy took over his place in the side, so the selectors presumably want to stick with the man in possession – even if that line of thinking doesn't apply to Gavin Rennie. Then, perhaps they thought that rather than play two leg-spinners, they would go for a finger-spinner in Ray Price.

The only problem here is that it leaves Zimbabwe with a very inexperienced bowling attack. Heath Streak has taken 138 Test wickets; with Guy Whittall unable to bowl yet, the other five specialist bowlers in the squad have taken exactly 20 Test wickets between them (14 to Murphy, six to Nkala, zero to the rest). One wonders if the selectors are a little over-confident when playing Bangladesh. If a situation does arise where experience in the bowling attack is needed, Streak will have few options.

One of the bowlers will almost certainly be twelfth man. It has become policy to play two spinners at Queens, where the seam bowlers get no undue help from the pitch. It would be unfair to label the ground as a pace bowler's graveyard, though, as members of that breed can earn success if they are prepared to bend their backs and work hard for it. So probably both Murphy and Price will play.

If Nkala is fully fit, he will no doubt play, otherwise he will be twelfth man. If he plays, the choice will probably be between Andy Blignaut and Brighton Watambwa. Both have bowled well and at a good pace this season, with Watambwa unlucky not to play in a one-day match. Blignaut has his powerful batting as an extra string to his bow but, with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union very keen to be seen as encouraging black players in every way, Watambwa might find a place this time. Nobody can say that he hasn't earned a chance this season.

It will be very interesting to see how Zimbabwe cope with the pressure of being overwhelming favourites for the first time. Will we see batsmen, at last relieved of the pressure of facing up to formidable opponents with years of experience and hundreds of Test wickets under their belts, dig in and celebrate with a double-century or two? Or will they perhaps become a little loose with the pressure off and fail to do themselves justice? The Bangladeshi bowling attack may not be fearsome by international standards, but it is very competent, and any Zimbabwean batting successes will have to be worked for very hard.

Will Zimbabwe's inexperienced bowling attack be able to bowl out a talented but even less experienced batting line-up? On a good pitch, Zimbabwe may just end up regretting their decision to give youth a chance at the expense of experience.

Yet the biggest question marks lie with the tourists. Playing away from home, they could not wish for better than opposing the least successful of the other nine Test teams at an arena that Noel Peck has made fit to stand next to any in the world. Can they exploit the two slight chinks in Zimbabwe's armour – the inexperience of their bowlers apart from Streak, and the inexperience of their opening batsmen? Bangladesh have an ideal opportunity to rise to the occasion and surprise their hosts, even if only by forcing a draw. It should be a fascinating match.

© CricInfo Ltd.