Time is on your side, Kiwi batsmen instructed

KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post

NO SWEAT: Ricky Ponting will be looking to increase Australia's dominance over New Zealand in the first test, which starts in Wellington tomorrow.

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Strange as it may sound, a Ross Taylor century taking seven hours will serve New Zealand far better than one coming in three-and-a-bit when the first test against Australia starts at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.

New Zealand are looking to engage Australia in a marathon rather than a sprint, and the word out of the home camp is that the batsmen have been told to bat for days, not sessions.

New Zealand want to wear down Australia in the field and won't be upset if the wind blows for a couple of days with the same chill factor as yesterday.

To prepare themselves for the "Battle of the Basin", New Zealand have flogged themselves in practice – some sessions lasting up to four hours to simulate matchday conditions.

Taylor revealed to what extent they have gone this week, saying five-minute drinks breaks had been dotted into the open wicket practice schedule so batsmen could work on how to stop and start their innings.

The New Zealand batting unit is in the hands of Martin Crowe and Mark Greatbatch this week.

Crowe is the guru and his words will be music to the ears of the top three of BJ Watling, Tim McIntosh and Peter Ingram, who have shown limitations and have just 14 tests between them.

Taylor talks of batting responsibly in the first test, something he was unable to do in the back-end of the one-day series when he was guilty of premeditating when Ricky Ponting and his bowlers dried up his boundaries.

"I played some howlers of shots and was disappointed with how I went out. I'm just going to go out there and play straight and play my game," Taylor said.

He has not scored a test century in 11 months. Mind you, the nervous nineties got him twice against Pakistan and he is averaging 54.56 from nine tests.

He is also yet to score a century against Australia and probably won't get a better chance because the pitch looks exceptional and the bowlers – apart from Mitchell Johnson – not to the level of previous touring teams from across the ditch.

Taylor said the message from Crowe to the batsmen was "about getting forward until you get pushed back". That said, he expects a fair share of bumpers.

"Australia come hard at you and bowl a lot of short balls and put pressure on you that way," Taylor said.

"Any Aussie side likes to use their bouncers, we are expecting that. We often play the short ball well, but it is what comes after that."

There is no teams news yet, though Australia have sent an SOS to South Australian quick Peter George, because they are worried about a side strain to Ryan Harris.

They are tossing up between teenage legspinner Stephen Smith and Marcus North at No6, while New Zealand are undecided on whether to run with a second spinner (Jeetan Patel) or a fourth seamer (Brent Arnel).

Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke believes he is mentally ready to pull his weight, despite his disruptive preparation caused by his high-profile relationship breakup with bikini model Lara Bingle.

Clarke added that New Zealand's bowlers were always a handful in their home conditions.

"Their opening bowlers [Chris Martin and Tim Southee] can swing the ball and that has been one area of our game we have had to work on as a batting unit. We faced that in England as well."

- © Fairfax NZ News