KEY POINTS:
The Chappell-Hadlee series is a winnable one for the Black Caps.
Whatever the outcome of last night's match they should be rated as a chance to retain the trophy they won against a weakened Australian side last season.
Australia are still a good side but they are certainly
more beatable than they were a couple of years ago. Great players like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have gone. Adam Gilchrist is also on the other side of his peak - he is is still a pretty fair player although you would have to believe that his best cricket has already been played.
Their good young quick bowlers are inexperienced. The kingpin is now Brett Lee but it wasn't too long ago that he struggled to find a place in their side and he has been going at about five runs per over. Shaun Tait has yet to prove himself - the Australians have got pace but pace is not necessarily a great thing to have in one day cricket.
New Zealand has not played smart against Australia in the past three or four years. You need to treat Australia as an entity in its own right. Australia usually have the edge man-for-man so the copybook tactics, such as bowling back of a length on off stump and setting orthodox fields, means they will probably win out on the law of averages unless you are innovative.
Those who write this side off do so at their peril and neglect the ace up New Zealand's sleeve - Kiwis love playing against Australia and almost always save their best for this contest. Throw in a mix of having to face some fearsome pace bowling, a burning desire to match it with the best in the game on good wickets in magical stadiums in front of huge crowds, and it's not hard to see why the Aussies get tipped over a bit.
Just watching Lee and Tait bowl in the Twenty20 was enough to get the blood stirring, and a session in the nets with Dion Nash yesterday enforced that I would love nothing more than to be playing this week. If I'm feeling like that imagine how up for it our guys are!
This is a big series for Brendon McCullum. He has some momentum in his game, loves playing the Aussies and will have fresh memories of his match winning 86 not out in the last stanza of the Chappell- Hadlee. If he can put major runs on the board against these guys, this series could prove to be a watershed in his career.
In fact, it could be a watershed for this team if they can win. Most of them have got good memories of playing against Australia, probably better than any other players who have been in the Black Caps. Australia is not the big scary monster it used to be, and while the odds favour the Aussies, Daniel Vettori's team can win it if they get some match winning individual performances from the likes of Oram, McCullum, Vettori and co.
The first thing they need to do is regain the momentum they gave up the other night. To allow a newbie like Tait to claim our batters are uncomfortable facing him is unacceptable and the senior players must knock him down a peg or two in short order or surrender the momentum to him for the series.
Scott Styris is probably the man for the job - he is rarely short of a word and knows the tricks of the trade when it comes to ensuring a player is thinking about all sorts of things except what he should be. He will likely start by reminding Tait he bowled like a drain in the previous series and was largely responsible for the whitewash. A few well placed comments about his action won't hurt either although I was surprised to hear that there have been questions about its legality. I've never picked up anything untoward in his action.
