'We have to concentrate very hard,' says New Zealand coach John Wright. Photo / Greg Bowker
John Wright today sounded just like what he once was - a diligent, unfussy test opener - as he talked of the plans for the first morning of the opening test against Australia on Thursday.
With all the speculation surrounding the Gabba pitch in Brisbane revolving around how much life and movement there will be for the seamers, the goals will be simple for both the batting and bowling teams.
The batsmen will want to negotiate that pre-lunch session at the least cost; the bowlers must make inroads.
Either way, New Zealand coach Wright's message for his team is simple.
''We have to concentrate very hard for the first two hours on the first day and take it from there," he said today.
''We'll take it session by session and certainly from my experience any team, if you can get them under pressure, is vulnerable."
As a batsman Wright was not a flash and dash type, but he prized his wicket highly and endeavoured to make life as difficult for opposing bowlers as he could.
The result? A test average of 37.82, and 12 centuries over 82 tests.
Wright likes what he has seen from his young team, not only in Zimbabwe in their first overseas tour of the summer, but also so far in Australia.
The four-dayer against Australia A in Brisbane last week had plenty to like from his perspective.
''We think we've got the players that can do very well against this Australian team," Wright said.
''We know if we can achieve some of the goals we've set ourselves that will give us a good chance of getting what we'd like out of this series."
That's careful, measured coachspeak for winning the series - or at the very least heading home all square after the second test in Hobart starting on December 9.
If New Zealand can cash in on the inexperience of Australia's seam bowling department, headed by the hard-working Peter Siddle but backed up by two of three uncapped players, left armer Mitchell Starc, Ben Cutting and James Pattinson, at the Gabba, they'll go a long way to making life awkward for Australia.
All three played against New Zealand for Australia A last week and while Pattinson was the pick of them, they all felt some heat from Brendon McCullum's bat, as the New Zealand opener hit 146 in the first innings.
''It was a huge surprise to us to come up against three guys who were named in the test straight after," McCullum said today.
''But we know they'll get themselves up even further than last week, even though they were bowling for spots in the test team.
''We expect them to bowl faster and better, but equally we feel we've got room for improvement too, put them under pressure and see how they react."
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