A rampant Australia start firm favourites in the first cricket Test against New Zealand starting in Christchurch on Thursday with speed demon Brett Lee at his blistering best after tormenting the Black Caps in the one-day series.
As the tourists aim for a clean sweep in the Tests to complement the 5-0 drubbing they handed out in the one-day series, their ranks have been further bolstered with opening batsman Matthew Hayden declared fit after injuring a shoulder in the second one-day international.
The New Zealand Black Caps have attempted to put a brave face on the Tests, adamant that they have put the morale-shattering one-day fixtures behind them, and they even practised in their whites to get themselves into five-day mode.
”We both start nil-all,” said batsman Craig McMillan, while senior batsman Nathan Astle said any talk of the Black Caps being psyched out by Australia was ”just the media talking”.
But little has changed in the make-up of the teams and the New Zealand batsmen have shown themselves unable to cope with the lightning pace of Lee.
He was the scourge of the New Zealand batsmen in the one-dayers and has warned he is in the right frame to better the 160,8km an hour delivery — his fastest and second only to Shoaib Akhtar’s 161km/h in 2002 — which he let fly in the last one-day match.
”To see that 161 come up was a pretty amazing thing and I feel I can definitely go a bit quicker … it felt like I was going close to flat-out but it feels deep down there’s a bit more petrol in the tank,” he said.
Australian opener Justin Langer added to the pre-match hype saying the New Zealanders are lying if they claim they aren’t scared of Lee.
”As a top-order batsman there’s always some sort of fear factor. I’ve been telling you guys [media] for 10 years that I love facing fast bowling, it’s a great challenge and all the clichés, but I can assure you anyone who honestly says that is lying to you,” the combative Langer said.
With the makeshift lineup the injury-hit New Zealand has cobbled together — seven frontline contenders are unavailable — the pressure is on senior batsmen Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan to stand up and be counted.
”They are a senior player, and by definition of being a senior player it’s accepting that 90% of the wins come from those players,” coach John Bracewell said.
Fleming is New Zealand’s leading Test run scorer with 5 663 from 89 Tests, while Astle plays his 67th Test and McMillan his 54th this week.
The rest of the top six are relative newcomers, with opener Craig Cumming to debut, Hamish Marshall with just two Tests and Lou Vincent playing his 16th Test but his first in 14 months.
The task is a hefty one against Australia’s bowling attack, with Jason Gillespie or Michael Kasprowicz seemingly competing for the final spot behind Lee, Glenn McGrath, and Shane Warne.
The Test will be played on the same pitch used for the World X charity match in January when Fleming flayed 106 off 57 balls, and is expected to have similar characteristics to the adjacent strip where Australia scored 314 for six in the second one-day international last month.
Teams:
New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (capt), Craig Cumming, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman, James Franklin, Chris Martin, Iain O’Brien.
Australia (from): Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz. – Sapa-AFP