Cricket: Change of fortune not beyond Black Caps

New Zealand are summoning the energy from their dramatic change of fortunes in England this year as they prepare for tomorrow's opening one-dayer of the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee series.

Pummelled beyond recognition during the two tests in Brisbane and Adelaide, the New Zealanders know a winning performance in the three one-day internationals will ease much of the recent pain, not to mention restoring confidence levels before the home series against Sri Lanka.

And they also realise that such a turnaround is not beyond them.

New Zealand were in similarly dire straits last winter when they went belly-up in the tests against England, but then salvaged their tour with a triumphant march through the NatWest ODI series, knocking England out of their own tournament, and beating the West Indies in the tournament showpiece.

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum said the about-face was serving as a source of encouragement for the players as New Zealand prepared to play their first international match indoors, under the closed roof of the Telstra Dome arena in Docklands.

"We take heart from the experience in England where we suffered a similar defeat in the tests and then turned it around very quickly and won the tri-series," McCullum said.

"The side we're playing here are very good, but we've had some good success in the one-day game over recent times, so we'll be going in confident, albeit realistic about the size of the task."

The New Zealand players have not been allowed to push the test disappointment off the radar this week, but have instead undergone hours of debriefings, and lengthy periods of performance analysis.

Since being over-run at Adelaide, the squad have farewelled Paul Wiseman, Mark Richardson, Chris Martin and James Franklin, and have welcomed Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and Andre Adams into the fold - changes that McCullum said had rejuvenated the group.

"We did get a fairly big belting in the tests and that was disappointing, but we've had a period of reflection and we've brought in some experienced guys like Cairnsy and Harry - and they've added value to the squad." 

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was another to emphasise the lessons that needed to be taken from the test series setback.

"We don't want to ever forget about the tests," Fleming said. "If we don't learn from the times that we get thumped, then we're not a smart side."

One of the most difficult tasks facing Fleming tomorrow is unravelling the complexities of the Telstra Dome, considering the roof will be closed from the start of play and the game will effectively be played indoors.

The New Zealanders had noticeable problems with their out-fielding at practice yesterday, Cairns in particular shelling a large number of high catches as he tried to come to terms with the low-slung lights and the industrial-grey background of the ceiling.

McCullum said that as wicketkeeper, he had a particular interest in how the unusual-low rows of spotlights impacted on players' field-vision and the ability to follow the flight of the ball from the boundary.

"It's different with the roof and the lights, but it's not unlike Wellington's Cake Tin and I'm looking forward to the experience."

The Squads

* New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (c), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Chris Harris, Andre Adams, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler.

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