Old rivals clash again with renewed vigour

December 4, 2016
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)

In 2004, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was struck. In 2010, it was struck off. Not officially, of course, but the idea of an annual one-day series between Australia and New Zealand was quietly forgotten. It was as if these neighbours, until then welcoming each other with open arms, had fallen out over some petty matter like a tree hanging over the back fence. When they crossed paths at someone else's place, they would nod politely - as when the trophy was put up for grabs in their match at the 2011 World Cup in India - but neither would invite the other into their home. But at the World Cup last year, they kissed and made up, decided that actually that tree had plenty of tasty fruit, and why couldn't they just share it, after all.

As a result, having gone nearly six years without a standalone Chappell-Hadlee series, we now have three in the space of 12 months. In February, New Zealand won at home. The teams now meet in Australia, and next February, they again play in New Zealand. It is curious scheduling for both sides. New Zealand rushed to Australia the day after winning a home Test series against Pakistan, but at least they can stay in white-ball mode for a while: their next commitments are home ODIs and T20s against Bangladesh. Australia have switched almost as quickly from Test mode, but unlike New Zealand, they must hastily change back into a Test mindset as soon as these three games are over, as they host Pakistan for three Tests.

In the meantime, we can sit back and enjoy what should be a fine one-day series. If the World Cup final last year was a bit of an anticlimax, the pool game in Auckland showed how thrilling contests between these two teams can be. It was a low-scoring affair, dominated by the pace and swing of Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult - both of whom will be playing in this series - and it went down to the last wicket. Both teams have had significant personnel changes since that World Cup, though: from that match alone, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Grant Elliott, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson have all retired.

New Zealand enter this series missing some important players: Ross Taylor is recovering from eye surgery, while Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Corey Anderson are all out injured. But they could unleash the pace of Lockie Ferguson, who at his best can hit 150kph, and still have some fine names throughout their batting and bowling groups. Australia come in at full strength, with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc back after resting from the tour of South Africa, and Steven Smith's men will be keen to put the focus back on the cricket after the Glenn Maxwell-Matthew Wade controversy in the lead-up.

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

 Australia: LLLLL
New Zealand: LWLWL

Glenn Maxwell hasn't played an ODI since the tour of the West Indies in June, having been left out of the squad for the tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa. If he wanted to slip quietly back into the side for this series, his pre-match comments on Matthew Wade and the Victorian batting-order have ended any hopes of that. Maxwell might just find himself under even more pressure to perform as a result - if he even finds himself in the XI at all.

Martin Guptill is the No. 8-ranked ODI batsman in the world, boasts the second-highest score in ODI history (237*) and has struck 14 international centuries across formats. And yet, not a single hundred has come against Australia in 40 innings in Tests, ODIs and T20s. But Guptill's last one-day series against Australia hinted at progress: he scored 90 in Auckland and was the leading scorer from both sides across the three-match Chappell-Hadlee series. But with Taylor injured and McCullum having retired since, the pressure is on Guptill once again to stand up as a senior batsman.

Australia have stressed that they will pick their strongest XI while this series is alive, and will refrain from resting fast bowlers as they did on the tour of South Africa. That should mean an attack based around Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. The main question is the balance of the middle order and allrounders, with Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner potentially vying for just two positions. The uncapped Hilton Cartwright, named in the 14-man squad, has been released to play in the Sheffield Shield.

Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Travis Head/Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Pat Cummins, 11 Josh Hazlewood.

New Zealand have plenty of bowling options to choose from, with the uncapped Ferguson having a chance of playing.

New Zealand (possible) 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Colin Munro, 6 James Neesham, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry/Lockie Ferguson/Colin de Grandhomme, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult.

The only ODI at the SCG last summer was a high-scoring affair in which India chased down 331 to beat Australia. There has been spin on offer at the ground in the Sheffield Shield this season, but expect the one-day surface to be good for batting. The forecast for Sunday is for a fine day and a top of 28 degrees centigrade.

"We've both come off playing Test matches, so we've got to be adaptable and turn things around with the white ball. We've played pretty well here in Australia in one-day cricket, hopefully that will continue."
Steven Smith