Black Caps coach goes out on a limb

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Black Caps coach Andy Moles has boldly predicted his young side can belie its tag as underdogs and beat the star-studded Aussies in next month's Chappell-Hadlee series.

The squad of 14 for the series, which begins on February 1 in Perth, was named on Thursday and includes newcomers Trent Boult and Brendon Diamanti.

Senior pros Scott Styris and Jacob Oram will miss the series with injury, meaning the side looks a little on the light side on experience.

But that hasn't stopped Moles, who has been in charge of the side for almost two months, from faithfully sticking by his unfancied young guns.

"I'm excited about this series. I can't wait for it to start," Moles told Sunday News.

"We've got five or six real international match winners and if they perform and we all stand up and be counted I expect to win over there.

"The underdogs label doesn't matter to me at all.

"We may well be the underdogs but it's about how we feel ourselves and how we approach this challenge.

"If we go into the games expecting to come second we will come second.

"If we go into the games with a hunger and yearning for success and if we believe we can stand up man for man against the Australians, we can win a game of cricket."

Whether 18-year-old Boult and all-rounder Diamanti will get a crack at the Australians remains to be seen. But Moles is adamant if the conditions are right he won't stand in the way of either making their debut.

"We'll have a look at the surfaces we are going to play on first," he said.

"Both guys have different skills.

"Brendon is a bowler who can vary his pace, bowl good yorkers and slower balls, so there will be certain surfaces he might be useful on.

"He's a good striker and fielder as well.

"Young Boult has been the form bowler of the domestic competition this year and the stats certainly don't show anything different.

"I saw him bowl during the winter and he did a great job in Australia.

"He's a guy who gets the ball to swing away from left-handed batsmen, so we see him as possessing skills we could well use to exploit the Australians when we get across there.

"Looking at the squad, I think we have several bowlers with different skills which, under the right conditions, we believe can expose the Australians.

"That's why they've been selected."

- © Fairfax NZ News