Aussies prepare for latest shift

Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh has expressed his sympathy to players for a "ridiculous" schedule that will see them confronted by their fourth international format change in as many weeks as they prepare for their two-Test series against New Zealand.

Half of Australia’s Test squad arrived in Wellington this afternoon, their fifth port of call since arriving in New Zealand a week ago, where they met up with their fellow red-ball teammates ahead of two days of intensive preparations before the first Test against the Black Caps starts on Friday.

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A handful of those who will be involved in that Test at the Basin Reserve – batsman Adam Voges, spinner Nathan Lyon and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill – have gained a head start in adapting to first-class conditions in NZ courtesy of the historic Sheffield Shield match between NSW and WA near Christchurch last week.

Others, such as opener Joe Burns and seam bowlers James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers, have made the trip across the Tasman in recent days having completed their Shield duties in Australia.

But those members who were part of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy Series that NZ won 2-1 in Hamilton last night – skipper Steve Smith, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell and Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja – have 48 hours to adjust to the red ball they last saw in early January. 

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While the preparation, minus the international travel, has been similar for a NZ outfit that has been involved in limited-overs fixtures against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia since Boxing Day last year it was his Australian charges Marsh had in mind when asked about the challenge posed by such a relentless schedule.

"The whole season has been difficult to navigate, it’s been extremely difficult," Marsh said when asked about the difficulty that came with preparing for a Test tour with barely time to undertake a full training session let alone a warm-up match.

"I just reiterate how sorry I feel for the players.

"I mean it's been a ridiculous program for them to try and combat, playing three different formats in the space of a week and a half or whatever it is.

"I don't know how they do it, but I take my hat off to them."

Since the New Year Test against the West Indies was ruined by rain, Australia has played a five-match VB One-Day International Series against India, three KFC T20 Internationals against the same opponent and then three ODIs against New Zealand over the past week.

Initially, Australia’s visit to New Zealand was to have been a three-Test tour but Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket agreed to reduce it two Tests in order to reinstate the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy Series as a stand-alone series of three matches.

Which built on the rivalry created during last year’s ICC World Cup where the co-hosts ended up playing off for the title, and drew significant crowds to all three ODIs.

The window into which those matches could be slotted was restricted by the proximity of the ICC’s World T20 tournament that begins in India next month. 

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And the complexity of the schedule has been compounded by the encroachment of the football codes’ seasons in NZ.

With the opening Chappell-Hadlee match scheduled for Auckland just days before Eden Park hosted a rugby league 9s tournament, the Australians then travelled to Wellington for game two last Saturday because that venue – Wellington Regional Stadium – was required for an A-League soccer fixture the next day.

That meant a return trip to Auckland where the team was based for the decisive game three in Hamilton – more than an hour’s drive away – yesterday, before flying back to Wellington today to begin two days of training and preparation for the start of the Test on Friday.

Steve Smith claimed the jam-packed schedule that will see Australia transition from ODIs to T20, back to ODIs and then into Test cricket in the space of 13 days should not present a major challenge for players so familiar with the demands of the international game.

"I think it's part and parcel of the game these days," Smith said before the Test members of the squad departed Auckland to join up with their teammates and coach Darren Lehmann who returns to his role after two weeks absence due to a bout of deep vein thrombosis.

"We jump from different formats day-in, day-out, and for me it's just about making sure the guys adapt accordingly.

"Going from one-day cricket to Test cricket now, the guys have got a lot more time to spend out in the middle so it's about reining it in and making sure we have our defence in order for what we're likely to come up against.

"I haven’t seen (the Basin Reserve pitch) yet, but the wicket could have quite a bit of grass on it.

"And we haven’t done so well against the moving ball in the last year, so we’ve got a bit of work to do there.

"We have to find a way to be successful in these conditions. It's completely different to back home." 

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While the Australians will use their main training session that starts at the Basin first thing tomorrow morning to acclimatise to those unfamiliar conditions, the Black Caps will be keen to ensure the team aspiring to assume the mantle of world’s number one Test nation does not feel at home.

Having seen how Australia’s top-order batters struggled against the swing and seam of England’s bowlers who exploited favourable conditions to reclaim the Ashes in the UK last year, NZ will take great confidence given the potency of their pace bowling stocks.

With Trent Boult expected to be passed fit after missing the final ODI through illness, and his new-ball partner Tim Southee returning to competitive cricket last weekend following a foot injury, the home team are looking to inflict similar pain as did Stuart Broad and James Anderson last winter.

Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum, who has lost his first-choice spinner Mitchell Santner to a foot injury with his place in the opening Test to be filled by off-spinner Mark Craig, fired an early shot by warning the Australians of the conditions they can expect in Wellington and Christchurch.

"I think the wickets will be different, they’ll probably have a bit more of a tinge of green to them," McCullum said in the wake of his team’s stirring win at Hamilton in his final ODI appearance for his country.

"There should be plenty of sideways movement and I expect probably a little bit more pace and bounce than what we’ve seen in the one-day wickets.

"It’s going to be a pretty exciting series.

"Everyone’s pretty excited about what’s in front of us and on the back of this (Chappell-Hadlee) series and the crowds that we’ve seen turn up, so I think it’s going to be a cracking Test series."