Michael Clarke warns Australia about New Zealand's pace bowlers
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has advised his team to be wary of the dangerous New Zealand fast bowlers and in particular, stressed on the dangerous pace duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. He also went on to say the pace duo were the biggest weapons the Kiwis possessed, reports cricket.com.au.
New Zealand have arrived in Australia in pursuit of their first test series win in Australia since 1985. They are set to play a short series consisting of three Tests in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Clarke stated that the success of the Kiwi pace bowling department would play a key role in New Zealand winning the series.
The world cup winning captain pinpointed the duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult and called them the biggest weapons New Zealand had in their ranks. Both bowlers had a remarkable World Cup at home, picking up 37 wickets among them and played an instrumental role in New Zealand reaching the final for the first time.
Trent Boult, especially, impressed one and all with his performance and he ended up as the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament picking up 22 wickets. In Test cricket too, his performance has been decent. The left-armer has claimed 123 wickets at an average of 27.12 in 32 Tests.
Tim Southee on the other hand, picked up 15 wickets in the World Cup, and has a fairly similar record in test cricket as Boult. Southee has picked up 107 wickets at an almost identical average as Boult’s but has played in fewer test matches. Southee’s career-best figures read 7-64, which came against India in 2012.
Clarke said the venue for the first two test matches would assist swing bowling more, and that’s where Boult and Southee could be more dangerous. "You think about the first two Test matches - Brisbane and the WACA - they're conducive to some swing bowling. Particularly early on in the Test match. That'll be a good challenge for our batters," he said.
The recently retired cricketer was also confident about the new skipper Steve Smith and said that Australian cricket was in good hands. "Smitty will do a good job. He'll lead well, he's at the top of his game at the moment, in really good form and that's a great time for him to take over the captaincy. Australian cricket will look forward to some fresh ideas, some fresh faces and Smitty will lead the way there," he remarked.
Black Caps coach confident about New Zealand’s success
New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson believes his side has the necessary arsenal to beat Australia and secure its first series win in their neighbouring nation, in 30 years. New Zealand had last won a test series in Australia in 1985, but the coach remained optimistic about his side’s success in the upcoming series.
“It has been a while. There’s been some good New Zealand sides come over here in the past, and I think it’s shown how formidable Australia are in their own backyard. 1985 is a long time ago, a lot of us can remember that quite fondly. We’ve had the odd Test win (such as) in 2011 but to win a series over here you know you have to play very well,” he stated.
And just like Clarke, Hesson too stressed on the importance of swing bowling and is confident that Southee and Boult would do the job for the team. “I think anyone in the world struggles against the swinging ball, and I think that’s shown definitely over the last few years. Tim and Trent are pretty good exponents. If those two get it right and it does swing they can put any side under pressure, and Australia is no exception to that,” he said.