Black Caps set to swing into action

If New Zealand coach Mike Hesson needs further reassurance that his Black Caps team has a real chance to end their 30-year losing streak in Australia, he need not dig too deeply into the video archives.

Armed with two genuine swing bowlers currently ranked in the top 10 in the world – Trent Boult and Tim Southee – Hesson would find it difficult to stifle a smirk upon viewing the frailties that Australia’s batters repeatedly showed against the moving ball during this year’s Ashes series.

And while the ‘Gabba, the WACA and Adelaide Oval (under lights with the untried pink ball) represent vastly different conditions to grassy Edgbaston or Trent Bridge pitches under heavy cloud, it is NZ’s swing bowling stocks that has them rated a real chance to overturn recent history.

“It has been a while,” Hesson said in Canberra today ahead of his team’s first training session of their tour when reminded that the Black Caps’ only series triumph on the other side of the Tasman came in 1985.

“There’s been some good New Zealand sides come over here in the past, and I think it’s shown how formidable Australia are in their own backyard.

“1985 is a long time ago, a lot of us can remember that quite fondly. We’ve had the odd Test win (such as) in 2011 but to win a series over here you know you have to play very well.”

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Black Caps coach Mike Hesson points the way // Getty

What will doubtless buoy the Black Caps and their fans heading into the three-match Commonwealth Bank Test series will be the fact that Boult and Southee were able to do what Australia’s pace bowlers could not in English conditions when they played two Tests against Alastair Cook’s team immediately prior to the Ashes.

Left-armer Boult collected 13 wickets in those two matches (at Lord’s and Headingley) which was only marginally fewer that Mitchell Starc (18) Josh Hazlewood (16) and Mitchell Johnson (15) each collected across the five-Test Ashes campaign.

Southee was less effective with eight wickets at 49 in that series that was drawn 1-1, but remains an ideal right-arm foil for Boult given his ability to swing the ball both ways at pace.

It was movement in the air and off the pitch that sealed Australia’s fate in their 3-2 Ashes defeat, succumbing to Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn in posting sub-par first innings totals of 136 and 60 in consecutive Tests at Birmingham and Nottingham.

WATCH: Australia's horror show at Trent Bridge (restrictions apply)

Hesson is too shrewd to suggest his team holds two trump cards as they begin a week of intensive match practice leading into the first Test in Brisbane starting on November 5.

But he didn’t miss the opportunity to point out the success that Boult and Southee have enjoyed of late, and the headaches they have caused batsmen the world over with both the red Test and the white limited-overs balls.

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“I think anyone in the world struggles against the swinging ball, and I think that’s shown definitely over the last few years,” Hesson said.

“Tim and Trent are pretty good exponents. If those two get it right and it does swing they can put any side under pressure, and Australia is no exception to that.”

Also not lost on the NZ coach was the observation that Australia’s Test line-up will be vastly different to the one that took the field in the opening Test of last summer against India in Adelaide.

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Australia will have a totally new behind-the-wicket set-up this summer // Getty

Then skipper Michael Clarke, opener Chris Rogers, allrounder Shane Watson, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and seamer Ryan Harris have all recently announced their retirements from the Test game.

Several players looking to fill the vacancies left by the exodus of those veterans will represent the Prime Minister’s XI in the tour opening day-night match at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Friday.

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Among them are top-order batters Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja, and Hesson concedes he’s keen to have a closer look at all three lest he need to formulate plans to counter them in the coming Commonwealth Bank Test series.

“There’s an element of unknown about some of the (Australia) batting options so the key thing for us is gathering information,” he said.

“We know a bit about Khawaja but obviously he hasn’t played a lot recently (in international cricket) and he’s made some modifications so we’re looking forward to having a look at that.

“(We) don’t know a lot about Bancroft, and Burns is another one who we’ve seen a bit of in one-day cricket but not seen a lot of in red-ball cricket.

“Those are some, there could be someone else coming up from somewhere but we’ll try to gather as much (information) as we can.

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Khawaja and Burns top of NZ's scouting list // Getty

“We scout our opposition and we spend a bit of time on that, but we don’t worry about it too much.

“We pretty much focus on what we do, and we’ve done that for a few years.”

The Black Caps underwent mainly fitness work in their first training session of the tour at Manuka Oval on Wednesday, although captain Brendon McCullum who has only recently rejoined the squad after testifying at Chris Cairn’s trial in London spent some time hitting balls in the nets.

Both the tourists and the PM’s XI led by ex-Australia Test batsman Michael Hussey will train with the much publicised pink balls in Canberra Thursday.