Stung by losing their home tri-series final to England, the Australian cricketers flew into New Zealand on Wednesday looking for a whipping boy.
”I think we’re going to be pretty dangerous,” stand-in captain Mike Hussey warned ahead of the three-match Chappell-Hadlee series, which starts in Wellington on Friday.
With Australia on a rare two-game losing streak, ”the guys are very motivated to do well.”
”Obviously we’re disappointed and hurting a bit from the Commonwealth Bank series loss to England, so we’re pretty motivated to change the momentum and try and get some confidence up heading into the World Cup.”
Hussey said the Chappell-Hadlee series was an important contest in itself and not just preparation for the World Cup, which begins in the West Indies next month.
”This is the series I want to focus on and this is the series I want to win,” he said.
Hussey has stepped into the leadership role with Australia resting regular captain Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist ahead of the World Cup.
In his only previous outing as Australia captain, Hussey suffered a three-wicket defeat to the West Indies last September, giving him further motivation to do well against New Zealand.
”It’s a great honour to captain Australia. I have done it once before, for one loss, so I’m looking forward to trying to have a couple of wins and get ahead on the ledger,” he said.
With Ponting and Gilchrist absent and Michael Clarke nursing a hip injury, only opener Matthew Hayden is a certainty out of Australia’s first-choice top-four batsmen, but high-scoring Hussey is renowned for his versatility.
He played at number six throughout the recent tri-series, but said team balance would dictate where he slotted into the order.
”As captain you’ve got the luxury of getting to choose where you would like to bat,” he said.
”I’ll sit down with [coach John Buchanan] and we’ll try to work out what the best balance for the team is and then I’ll fit in there.
”If my role is best for the team coming in and playing that finishing role then that’s what I’ll do.
”If the team thinks I need to go up the order and try and bolster the middle-order in that way, or the team thinks I need to open the batting, then I’ll do whatever is best for the team.”
But he added he wouldn’t be targeting any particular New Zealand players.
”I just want to focus on our team … setting our benchmarks and our standards and making sure we play to those.”
New Zealand have made Peter Fulton the scapegoat after he made just 12 runs from 30 balls when New Zealand lost by 14-runs to England in a match that decided who would play Australia in the tri-series finals.
The promising Ross Taylor moves up one place in the batting order to replace Fulton at number three after making a good first impression on the Australians when scoring 84 in his maiden innings in Hobart.
It is a prospect that doesn’t faze the 22-year-old.
”I enjoyed batting at four, though at three you can get in early and you’ve got more time to get yourself in,” he said.
”You have more of a licence to play a few more shots; you’re one down rather than two.”
Taylor is averaging 36,23 after 14 one-day internationals, scoring at a brisk 84 runs per 100 balls faced.
”I think I naturally score quite quickly and even if I take up a few balls to get in hopefully I can catch up with them later on.”
The other games are in Auckland on Sunday and Hamilton on Tuesday. — Sapa-AFP