The Hindu : Sport : We'll be aggressive throughout: Ponting

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 18, 2004

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Sport

We'll be aggressive throughout: Ponting

BRISBANE, NOV. 17. Ricky Ponting expects New Zealand to try and stifle Australia with a defensive gameplan, so he says he'll up the stakes and go on the attack from the first ball in the first cricket Test.

``New Zealand will go defensive and drag it out, they'll try to slow the scoring,'' said Ponting, who plans to bat first and aim for a big, big first innings total if he wins the toss. ``We'll be aggressive throughout this series.''

And why wouldn't they be. The Australians haven't lost a Test match here at the Gabba since 1988, haven't lost a Test series at home in a decade, are ranked No. 1 in the world and are coming off their first series win in India in 35 years.

The conditions, by the way, are perfectly suited to the Aussies in their first domestic Test of the season, as Ponting cheerily pointed out after Wednesday's final practice session on a hot and humid Brisbane morning.

He's asking his batsmen for a 500-plus total in their first innings.

``We feel it's about time that we really got a big first-innings total,'' Ponting said. ``We've batted well of late without nailing down that really big score.''

Bench strength

Australia had the luxury of leaving Brett Lee — one of the world's two fastest bowlers — out of the starting XI because pacemen Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz are in such good form.

Lee will be 12th man, but will get a day off to play for New South Wales in a domestic limited-overs match so he gets some match practice.

Simon Katich, Australia's third-highest run-scorer in the series win over India, also couldn't win a spot in middle order, making way for Darren Lehmann's return from injury.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said Australia's selection quandaries are what you get only ``when the cupboard is too full'' and expected his paper-thin pace attack would have to be inventive to keep the visitors competitive.

``Taking 20 wickets is a concern but it's not serious — it's exciting,'' said Fleming. ``Every team faces it when they come to Australia and their record at Brisbane is extremely good, but the excitement of trying new things and working out how to get 20 wickets is part of the fun.

``That's why I think we respond often better than others when we come here: we're the underdog and have nothing to lose, so we can try things without a great deal of consequence.''

New Zealand held Australia to a 0-0 series draw in three Tests in 2001-2002, with a little help from some rain and some creative and thoughtful captaincy from Fleming, who pinpointed weaknesses in the host and targeted those.

Vettori back

Daniel Vettori has overcome a shoulder problem and will give New Zealand an experienced spin option, but the fast bowling stocks are limited and the tourist wasn't too threatening in a nine-wicket opening loss to New South Wales in a four-day match.

New Zealand has only won two of its 22 Tests in Australia, both in 1985 when Sir Richard Hadlee led the Kiwis to a shocking 2-1 series win. New Zealand coach John Bracewell played with Hadlee in that series.

Fleming, who picked up a virus in the Test series whitewash over Bangladesh last month and didn't arrive in Australia until the weekend, said he'd fully recovered and was raring to go against Australia.

Batsman Nathan Astle recovered from a back problem to take his place in the series opener, while Craig McMillan — a late inclusion to cover injuries — won a recall in the middle order at the expense of Hamish Marshall.

``There were a couple of tough (selections), mostly based around balance, the sort of strategy we want to take into the game, and experience,'' said Bracewell. ``McMillan gives us greater experience and someone who is battle hardened for a Test match of such magnitude.''

Franklin out

Left-arm seamer James Franklin was ruled out with a groin strain and replaced by Kyle Mills.

The teams:

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clark, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath. 12th man: Brett Lee.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Mark Richardson, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Chris Martin. 12th man: Hamish Marshall.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan). — AP

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