Blacks Caps Prepare For Australia

The Black Caps have cut short their final warm-up match so they can get better intel on the quick Brisbane pitch.

Their four day fixture against a Cricket Australia XI in Sydney has been trimmed to three days, allowing the team to get an extra day of practice at the Gabba ahead of their first test in Brisbane.

Black Caps wicketkeeper BJ Watling says few players have experienced the notoriously bouncy and fast pitch.

"It's obviously a bit different.  We did play here four years ago and talking to the lads and there opinions on what the wicket was like then, we'll take that all on board and make sure we come up with game plan," he said. 

Meanwhile, Watling says the squad is unfazed by the fuss over the pink ball's durability in certain warm up matches.

In a recent warm up match, Australian batsman Adam Voges described the pink ball as looking 40 overs older than it was and that the lacquer disappeared quickly.

His comments sparked the Australian Cricketer's Association to state it'll ask for next month's day-night test to be switched to a regular timeslot if players remain unhappy with the ball's durability.

Black Caps wicketkeeper BJ Watling says they haven't been paying any attention to the fuss, adding that the team will "prep as if the schedule stays the same and we'll worry about the changes later on because we can't do much about that".  

Radio Sport