Lehmann: Getting the basics right is vital

Australia

Australia coach Darren Lehmann is looking forward to the Test series against New Zealand, starting in Wellington on Friday, and has stressed that the players get the basics right at the Basin Reserve.

New Zealand won the ODI series preceding the Tests, with Lehmann missing from the team for much of the past month as he was unable to travel due to a Deep Vein Thrombosis. This coincided with a five game losing streak.

But the coach feels the Test arena will see them back to business as usual as long as his players focus on the basics, as they look to repeat the series win they achieved against the Kiwis late last year.

Lehmann wrote on the CA website: "We've got the chance to get things back on track with a strong performance in the first Test at Basin Reserve on what looks like it will be a typical New Zealand green, seaming wicket.

"They will be similar conditions to England to some extent and we'll need to adjust accordingly with bat and ball.

"We've learned from our mistakes in England if the wickets do swing and seam around, and looking at the pitch here at the Basin it’s got a bit of grass on it now but it’s nice and level so I think it will end up being a really good wicket.

"It will be tough early on which is how it should be at the start of all Test matches, and that means it will be better than the flat wickets we've played on recently.

"The message I've been stressing since we got our Test squad back together here in Wellington yesterday is to get the basics right and meet that challenge of being consistent.

"There’s a lot of scrutiny on our recent record away from home and that’s something we're trying to rectify in the next couple of Test matches and I think we have picked a squad perfectly for the conditions that we're expecting to find here.

"We've got bowlers who hit a really good line and length and seam the ball, and the pitches in New Zealand will be pretty good for that."

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