The Australian summer will finally arrive on Thursday and what a way to kick it off with the first test between Australia and New Zealand coming to us from the Gabba.

The Australian test team has gone through somewhat of a clean out since that infamous innings defeat at the hands of England at the beginning of the year and I for one want to forget about that defeat and start fresh this summer.

Since that defeat, the whole administration team including the head coach and the selectors have been replaced, out go head coach and selector Tim Nielsen replaced by Mickey Arthur, the first foreigner to ever coach the Australian test side. This is most definitely a direct result of the Argus report which was commissioned after that disgraceful performance against the Poms less than 12 months ago. It has worked for the Socceroos and you see a lot of other cricketing nations employing overseas coaches successfully, a passport should not be a blocker to getting the best person for the job.

Selectors Merv Hughes, David Boon and Tim Cox were also replaced by Andy Bichel and Rod Marsh and from out of nowhere we also now have a new selection chairman in John Inverarity, he was appointed just a few weeks ago. The Captain also has a say in the selection of the team thanks to the Argus Review so all in all we now have 5 selectors.

Although the rebuilding process has been going on for almost a year now since the review, it’s only now that we are actually seeing the review bring about some results. The appointments of Mickey Arthur and John Inverarity in the last couple of months no doubt have a lot to do with that. This test series against New Zealand is where we are going to see some of the raw up and coming talent that Australia should have been blooding over recent years rather than living through past glory and not looking towards the future.

The bowling attack from the South African tour has been ripped apart by injuries with Johnson, Harris and Cummins all omitted for the first test against New Zealand. They are replaced by Starc, Pattinson and Cutting. Watson also misses out after he injured his hamstring in the second test and is replaced by David Warner.

Funnily enough, Usman Khawaja, who played in that test against England at the beginning of the year, has only just worked himself back into the side, he comes in at the expense of the injured Shaun Marsh.

Patrick Cummins, man of the match in the second test against South Africa, looks as though he is being rested for this first test match according to Geoff Lawson. Cummins believes he is fit for the first test against New Zealand and more will surely come out in regards to this over the course of the week. 

Wicket keeper Brad Haddin retains his place in the side after he helped steer the Aussies to that thrilling win over South Africa in the second and final test at the Wanderers. it will be interesting to see how long he has left should he have a bad time of it against New Zealand. Matthew Wade has been annointed his successor by Victorian Coach Greg Shipperd however Tim Paine has long been thought of as Haddins long term replacement and also a possible future captain, having a bit of competition in that position can’t be a bad thing though.

The Aussies line up against New Zealand in 2 days time with possibly the rawest pace attack I have ever seen Australia go into a test match with. These new players bring youth and excitement to a sport that many believe is on the decline, the only downside is that it may take them a little while to adjust to test match cricket, but if they aren’t given the chance to shine now, when will they get that chance? You only have to look back 15-20 years to see what age our past legends were blooded to see that we have gone off track, it’s time for one (or more) of these youngsters to announce themselves on the big stage.

Australia should have enough in them to see off this understrength New Zealand side that only just managed to knock over Zimbabwe recently. It will be interesting to see how Warner fares in Test Match Cricket as he may just be the nail in the coffin for Ricky Ponting, with Shane Watson already stating that his days opening may be numbered and it may be best to bat further down the order.

Australian Team: Michael Clarke (c), Brad Haddin (v/c), David Warner, Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Ben Cutting. (Tweltth man to be named)

New Zealand Team: Daniel Vettori (c), Ross Taylor (v/c), Brendan McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Jesse Ryder, Dean Brownlie, Reece Young, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Chris Martin, Bradley Watling (two to be omitted)

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