Steve Smith expected a green pitch in Christchurch, where Australia must pass an Ashes-like batting exam to claim the No.1 Test ranking.
But Smith was surprised for the Hagley Oval field and wicket to be quite so damp on the eve of the second trans-Tasman Test that starts on Saturday.
Any misplaced doubts about just how bowler-friendly the series finale will be were erased on Friday.
Both attacks should be particularly venomous given the damp grass covering the pitch.
In addition there was thick cloud cover and gusting northwesterlies, manna for any paceman preparing to bowl down breeze on day one.
Smith confirmed James Pattinson had been recalled by Australia, while New Zealand are contemplating an all-out pace attack.
"It's quite green and wet," skipper Smith said of the much-discussed pitch.
"I'm not sure how it goes here, whether it dries out quite quickly or not.
"It's quite hard to tell how it's going to play until you get out there on the morning of the game ... I'm not really buying anything into the way it is now."
Australia will top the International Cricket Council's rankings if they win or draw the contest at Hagley Oval that starts on Saturday.
Smith insisted he was content with the latter being all but removed from the equation by the Hagley curator.
"I don't think it's a concern. For me it's just about making sure our batters adapt to the conditions," he said.
"We know what we're likely to face. We knew that before we came over here."
The same can be said of last year's failed Ashes campaign in England, where Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson created havoc with the moving ball.
NZ will be without Doug Bracewell because of a shoulder injury but are expected to add both Neil Wagner to Matt Henry to their XI, dropping offspinner Mark Craig.
Make no mistake, Brendon McCullum's final international match will be an old-fashioned pace shootout.
"It's not going to be necessarily a pleasant time out there with bat in hand," outgoing NZ skipper McCullum said with a grin.
"Maybe it's one of those times when fortune favours the brave.
"It looks like it (the pitch) has got a nice healthy covering of grass, I'm sure that both teams' bowling line-ups will relish it.
"It (the ball) will go around for a while."
Smith took heart from the resolve that he, Usman Khawaja and Adam Voges showed in the first Test, recovering from 2-5 to post a match-winning total of 562 in Wellington.
The challenge is likely to be far more immense if McCullum wins the toss on Saturday but Smith was upbeat his side had the mettle required.
"It's about making sure we sum up the conditions quickly," he said.
"Get through those tough periods .. things obviously get a lot easier when you're out there for longer.
"If we batted first (in Wellington) I think it would have been simple to make sure we were doing the same things that I've just spoken about."
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