Ross Taylor is preparing for a short-pitched attack from Australia’s fast men when the first Test kicks off at the Basin Reserve on Friday (tomorrow).
The practice wickets out in the middle have provided sharp bounce and pace, and as the Wellington wind began to howl on Wednesday the prospect of facing a bowler of Mitchell Johnson’s speed with help from a gale loomed as a tough challenge.
Adding to the difficulty for New Zealand is the inexperience of their top three - Tim McIntosh has played 11 Tests, BJ Watling two and Peter Ingram one. The New Zealanders have called on the expertise of Martin Crowe to help them get ready and Taylor said he had already provided plenty of advice.
“It’s about getting forward until getting pushed back, because Australia in the past can come at us hard and bowl a lot of short deliveries and put pressure on us that way,” Taylor said. “Martin has been good for me, I’ve enjoyed working with him and I think the other guys have taken a lot from him as well.
“Any Australian side likes to use their bouncers and if the practice wickets are anything to go by the wicket will have a bit of bounce - and true bounce at that. We’re expecting that, but not only that. Quite often you play the short ball okay but it’s what actually comes after the short ball so we’ve got to be ready.”
Taylor said the key for New Zealand was to bat for time and force the bowlers to stay in the field as long as possible. “They’ve been pretty good, they’ve used Mitchell Johnson as an attacking weapon and quite often when he’s come back he’s picked up a wicket and then Ricky has taken him off,” he said. “He’s going to be a big factor for them and he’s bowled very well over the last 18 months.
“Bollinger had a very good Test series over there against Pakistan and West Indies and Harris is yet to make his Test debut. Hopefully we can negate them and take them into four or five sessions and see how they are after being out on the park with that wind blowing around all day.”
To get primed for that task, New Zealand’s batsmen have been training for longer than usual — up to four hours — and batting sessions out in the middle have been interrupted by drinks breaks and other intervals to simulate a real day’s Test cricket.
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