Swing has been an age old nemesis for the Australian batsmen and the current squad can only expect that factor in abundance when the test series against New Zealand commences at the Basin Reserve. Not too long ago, the Australian batsmen were made into a laughing stock by the English bowlers and Stuart Broad in particular at the Trent Bridge test in the 2015 Ashes. On the very first morning of that game, the Australians were bundled out for 60 within the first 19 overs of the game.
The wounds of that game are still fresh in the minds of this Australian team. Vice captain David Warner spoke to the media a day before the first test and said that he expected similar conditions at the Basin Reserve. “It’s like when we go to England, you have to adapt very fast, you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves,” Warner said. “Look at Trent Bridge, it was swinging around, you don’t want those memories back again. We just have to adapt to whatever we face on game day,” Warner said.
“The ball will swing for a lot longer than what it does in Australia,” Warner added. “The wickets were pretty flat, I’d have to say, in Australia. Looking at the wicket here it looks nice and green, but that’s irrelevant. I don’t think the ball will do much off the wicket. It will swing around a lot, and obviously with two world-class swing bowlers in the attack it’s going to be a challenge for us guys at the top of the order,” he added.