Cricket: Australia swap the pitch ahead of decider

The mind games have started ahead of tonight's Chappell-Hadlee decider at the Gabba, with New Zealand coach John Bracewell accusing organisers of swapping the pitch to suit the home side.

In a defiant interview at his team's hotel yesterday, Bracewell, still clearly miffed by the circumstances surrounding New Zealand's loss in Sydney, sparred with reporters over the issue of pitch selection.

Heavy rain in Brisbane apparently forced groundstaff to twice change the wicket, and might even wash out tonight's contest and leave the teams to share the inaugural series 1-1.

As if that thought isn't bad enough, Bracewell also has unspecified injury problems in his camp and was keeping his fingers crossed last night over code-of-conduct hearings involving Scott Styris and Brendon McCullum.

But it was his comments about the Gabba pitch that stole the show, the combative coach expressing concern that the Australians had switched wickets in an attempt to increase their home ground advantage.

Asked what he thought of the pitch, Bracewell said he wasn't sure "because I think it's been changed two or three times depending on the results of the past two (Hadlee-Chappell) games".

From there on, the interview took a perplexing turn.

Reporter: Are you suggesting the pitch has been swapped for reasons other than the weather?

Bracewell: "I'm not suggesting it, I'm saying it."

Reporter: "You have your suspicions then?"

Bracewell: "Nope."

Reporter: "Then why did you say it?"

Bracewell: "It was just a statement, like the things you write."

Reporter: "You must believe it if you said it?"

Bracewell: "Not necessarily."

Reporter: "Which pitch do you expect to play on?"

Bracewell: "Any one I'm allowed to look at, if I'm allowed to look at any."

The exchange followed an incident in last month's first test at Brisbane, when Bracewell and Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell had a sharp exchange of words over the issue of the pitch being watered midway through the match.

That, at least, shouldn't be a problem today as steady rain has fallen in Brisbane over the past week and it was still bucketing down yesterday, leaving questions over the most effective New Zealand line-up for the match.

With Chris Harris homeward bound with a shoulder injury, Bracewell has summoned Auckland all-rounder Tama Canning as cover, just in case his relatively subdued pace turns out to be well-suited to the surface.

Bracewell was also reticent about revealing the full picture of his team's injury-situation, even though Nathan Astle appeared to be struggling at Sydney.

"They [the injuries] are not something that we would like to reveal at this time," he said.

"There's always worries. We're getting back-to-back games now, and most of the guys were extremely stiff and sore after the match in Sydney. Some are still feeling the wear and tear."

However, he was encouraged by the courage and tenacity shown by his side in the second match, and delighted with the coming-of-age of Kyle Mills, who came back strongly with the ball and later smashed a quickfire and unbeaten 44.

"There was a great sense of relief that Mills performed with the bat," he said. "Within the unit itself we know he has that ability, although people from outside have questioned that at times, and possibly Kyle has himself.

"So, that [effort at Sydney] was a huge step forward for him as a cricketer.

Bracewell said the loss in Sydney had been a body-blow, but that it would only impact in a positive way on the team in terms of tonight's showdown.

Stris and McCullum were summoned before South African match referee Mike Proctor after reacting to leg-before decisions.

Styris' bat was seen connecting with a gate on the SCG boundary as he returned to the dressing room.

McCullum was dismissed after a Brad Hogg delivery took a thick inside edge before hitting his thigh.

THE TEAMS

NEW ZEALAND (from) Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Hamish Marshall, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Tama Canning, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler.

AUSTRALIA (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Michael Kasprowicz.