Ahead of NZ Tests: Australia coach expects easy transition for new-look team

Lehmann looking forward to spending time with potential opener Bancroft

SYDNEY: Australia coach Darren Lehmann said on Tuesday he expects a seamless transition period for his new-look Test team heading into next month’s start of the international cricket season.

Australia will embark on the campaign under new captain Steve Smith and deputy David Warner without the recent retirees Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson.

Despite the wealth of missing experience, Lehmann said he was confident the players coming through would be ready for the challenge in home Test series against New Zealand and the West Indies.

“It will be pretty easy, I think they’re all good kids,” Lehmann told the Cricket Australia website. “They know how we want to play and how we want to behave and act. We want to make sure we’re entertaining people the whole time and we’ve been very good at that over the past 12 months.”

Read: For New Zealand Tests Warner, Johnson back in training for Australia

While the start of Australia’s red-ball training camp in Sydney was washed out on Tuesday, Lehmann welcomed the opportunity to spend more time with squad newcomers Cameron Bancroft and Andrew Fekete.

“I don’t know him well enough yet to be perfectly honest,” said Lehmann of Bancroft, who is regarded as a candidate to open the Test batting with Warner.

“I’m looking forward to spending some time with him if he gets selected. His thirst for the game is second to none and he trains the house down, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes about it.”

Warner on slow road to recovery

Injured opener Warner said on Tuesday he was confident of being ready for the first Test against New Zealand next month as he slowly recovers from a broken thumb.

The Test vice-captain suffered the injury when he got in a tangle trying to play a Steven Finn bouncer against England in a one-dayer five weeks ago.

“Today is five weeks, it should have healed by the end of this week,” he told reporters on joining a 19-man squad for light training as preparations for the series got started.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2015.

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