“Once again, with the losses we’ve had over in New Zealand”.
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” Have the Australian selectors at last got it right for the T20 World Cup?”.
“It was extremely robust on Wags as a result of he is executed such an incredible job for us”, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum stated.
Meanwhile McCullum, in the lead up to his 100th and penultimate Test, freely acknowledges his desire to exploit Australia’s weakness against the moving ball.
As much as Steven Smith, the Australia captain, admires McCullum for what he has achieved, he said his side had added incentive to win the series as it will see them reclaim the top spot in the world rankings from India.
That’s why Smith was so upset at losing the preceding One-Day International series 2-1, ceding a chance to reclaim the Chappell-Hadlee trophy. The ODI series was Brendon McCullum’s last one, in which the Black Caps were able to help their skipper end the limited over format on a high.
Only Jackson Bird is a surprise inclusion, preferred to the faster and more menacing James Pattinson, who so recently carved a swathe through West Indies. “We’ve got a very good bowling line-up who will swing the ball and if the conditions do favour us, I’m confident we’ll ask some tough questions”.
The Basin Reserve offers a typical New Zealand green wicket for the first Test, but David Warner expected that would matter less than the swing movement offered by the atmosphere to New Zealand strike bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
“The selectors aren’t one hundred pc positive that (Pattinson) will get by means of this check match and Jackson Bird has been bowling extraordinarily nicely”, Smith advised reporters at the Basin Reserve.
“I thought the boys played him really well back in Australia”, Smith said.
Describing the incident as ‘weird ‘, Hastings said he was disappointed with the way decision was made. The wicket has a little bit of grass on it, so it could potentially take a little bit of spin, I’m not too sure yet.
Both sides struggled in the middle order with their batting, but New Zealand go into the Test with their tails up after their overall success. Josh Hazlewood is the second choice pacer with Nathan Lyon the only recognised spinner in the squad.
New Zealand Cricket has confirmed the first three days of the test had been sold out, as had the first two days of the second test in Christchurch.
“It will be nice to tick off a series win against Australia”, the swashbuckling opener said Thursday as he reminisced about his career which began in 2004 as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
“But with dropping Santner to damage and the stability of the workforce, we’ve to go in with a spinner”.
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The Canterbury batsman Henry Nicholls will make his Test debut in place of the injured Ross Taylor with Doug Bracewell getting the nod as the third seam bowler ahead of Neil Wagner.
