Australia v New Zealand 1st Test Preview

Australia v New Zealand 1st Test Preview: The stage is set as the two World Cup 2015 finalists; New Zealand and Australia, as they will clash against each other at the Trans Tasman Trophy in a 3-Test bilateral Series. The first one of the series will take place at Brisbane Cricket Ground in Brisbane on Thursday. Interestingly, for Australia it’s not going to be a cake walk. They have recently lost the Ashes series against England 2-3, their morale might be down, but Aussies are equally known for their determination to fight against all odds.

Aussies have won 27 out of 52 tests that they played against New Zealand. Kiwis won only 8 of them while remaining 17 were drawn. But latter won a test on Aussie soil last time only in the year 1985 under meticulous leadership of Richard Hadlee. Blackcaps captain McCullum also needs to replicate something like that to beat Aussies at home.

The “shattering” image of Kiwi’s great world cup dream might be still afresh in their minds, hence they won’t miss a single opportunity to crush the lesser experienced Aussie team. Apart from Captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner, once-a-star-studded Kangaroo batting line up, now looks too ordinary. No doubt, lots will depend upon the experience of these two key players to tackle the fiery bowling spells of Southee and Boult in this test series.

Following departure of the legends – Clarke, Haddin, Rogers and Watson from the Kangaroo test squad over the last few months has led to the inclusion of a lot of youngsters. It would be interesting to see how they cope up with the pressure and Kiwi attacks.

New Zealand have world-class players and capable match winners in their side. This time, Kiwi team has the formidable batting combination of Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum. They are equally lethal in bowling department as well. Bracewell, Boult and Southee are certain to make things more difficult for the Aussie batsmen.

Captain Steve Smith, the Kangaroo Captain, would be leading the team as a full-fledged skipper for the first time in the series. There will be immense expectations from him to lead his side from the front in an exemplary manner.

He might have started his career as an all-rounder in 2010 but shot to fame in a quick time with his astonishing batting abilities. After Clarke, he bagged the faith of the selectors for the top job and hopefully he will try his best to bring back the lost glory to the Aussie team. The top-class batsman has already garnered 500 plus runs at an average of 92.5 as a test captain.

The Test Squad: Expected Playing XI

Australia:

David Warner, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (C), Adam Voges, Mitch Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Usman Khawaja and Josh Hazlewood.

New Zealand:

Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCulllum (C), Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig and BJ Watling