Brendon McCullum says he will really miss Warne and McGrath. New Zealand is going to tour Australia right after the ongoing India Australia Test Series and the Man who is chosen as the New Zealand’s cricketer of the year shared his views abt the Aussies and the tour as below,
"There’s nothing better than facing the best bowlers in the world. Any time you play against the best you know that if you do succeed you really have earned it," he said.
"That’s why we play the game. We all want to play against the best in the world. Whilst it may not be quite as big a test without them there there’s also a little part of you that would kind of wish that you had McGrath running it at you or Warne giving you a little bit of chip."
The 27 year old New Zealand keeper is confident that the speedstar Brett Lee will bounce back from his tough tour of India.
"He always comes back strong against us. He seems to bowl his fastest against us too," McCullum said with a wry grin. "Back in Australia where the pitches will suit him a lot more, he is their number one bowler at the moment too, so I’m sure he’ll step up."
"That’s what we’ve got to be careful of, we don’t put all our eggs in the Brett Lee basket and we get knocked over by Stuart Clark."
"We’ve got to make sure that we are totally ready for whatever comes our way and make sure we’re playing at our optimum."
He added: "(Clark) is very similar to Glenn McGrath. He gives you very little opportunities or loose balls to hit so he’s constantly on you with the pressure and building that up."
"He’s got the ability to work you out as a batter. He’s proven to be a very good bowler."
"(Mitchell Johnson is also) doing really well. They seem to have almost adjusted their plans around when (he) comes on. They seem to be a little more technically aware of how they’re going to work guys out."
"That left arm over the wicket provides a point of difference and that seems to be what they are using him for."
The Black Caps haven’t won a series in Australia since 1985 and the Black Caps keeper said he is confident that his team will change the history this time.
"Whilst the performances probably weren’t as convincing as we first hoped over in Bangladesh, what we gained out of it in the building of character and playing with an immense amount of pressure on us to win was something that the guys really enjoyed," he said.
"We had to fight pretty hard to get those wins and in the end it is probably going to leave us in better stead than if we had gone over there and won a Test match in two days and wiped them off the park in the one-dayers."
"(But) we are under no illusions that we are going to have to play at our absolute best for the whole Test series in Australia to give ourselves an opportunity. That’s just the nature of how good Australia are and that’s why they are the number one team in the world."
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