No tour game, no worries: Hazlewood

Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Marsh and David Warner agree: the lack of a tune-up for the first Test will be no excuse if Australia fail to fire in New Zealand.

Josh Hazlewood isn't fussed about Australia's preparation for the trans-Tasman Test series, calling them near perfect.

Australia have shuttled between formats and squeezed a lot of cricket in since the SCG Test, facing India eight times before travelling to New Zealand for a three-match ODI series.

Hazlewood featured in all three ODI games, spread out over just six days.

The spearhead regarded the chance to bowl to the likes of Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill as more valuable than a tour match in the whites.

"Three one-dayers, it's not perfect but it's pretty close," Hazlewood said.

"We've been playing in these conditions against their batting order - it's pretty similar in Test cricket and one-dayers.

"A few of the guys obviously played in that Shield game in Christchurch. I think the build-up has been really good and we'll be ready to go."

Allrounder Mitch Marsh also dismissed talk of red-ball rust.

"We play so much cricket these days. We played six Test matches this summer so we're certainly not lacking red-ball cricket," Marsh told AAP.

"And obviously, many of us played in the ODI series, so we'll be ready to go for that first Test."

David Warner noted jam-packed schedules were the norm in international cricket.

"It's just like every other fixture that we play - it's always tight turnarounds," Warner said.

Marsh and Hazlewood were both rested from the recent Twenty20 series against India and admitted it took a bit of time for everything to click with their bowling.

"I was a bit rusty in the first game ... my first two overs, I got whacked a fair bit," Marsh said.

"I felt much better in the second game and, hopefully, I'll keep upping my pace before the Test starts."

Hazlewood agreed.

"I got better as the games went on. I was probably a little bit rusty in the first game," he said.

"But by the third one-dayer, I felt back on my game and things are going well. The ball is coming out really well."

Warner was reluctant to nominate which paceman he found the hardest to face on Wednesday in the nets.

"They're all pretty good ... they looked like they were up in pace which was good," the vice-captain said.


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Source: AAP



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