3 minute read

A day-night Test in Perth against Australia is an enormous leap from the slow-moving series against England but two New Zealand stars are unperturbed.

New Zealand batting kingpins Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor say the extra bounce, pink ball and time zone of Perth won't be used as excuses in the first Test against Australia.

The odds appear stacked against the tourists, who are coming off two Tests against England on docile Kiwi tracks and will have just three training sessions to prepare for the considerable zip of Optus Stadium.

They must re-learn the nuances of day-night cricket. Their last such Test was nearly two years ago against England while Australia's was a week ago - the rout of Pakistan in Adelaide.

Session start times of 6pm (NZT) will take some adjustment. That was the time stumps were drawn each day against England.

Captain Williamson took a typically phlegmatic attitude to the task at hand.

"The old day-night thing, eh. It'll be interesting. It's just another thing to adapt to, I suppose," he said.

"Such is the international schedule - we fly out, have a little bit of training and are straight into another match.

"The perfect preparation? It's always hard to know what that is."

Taylor, New Zealand's most experienced player, said the best preparation for Test cricket was Test cricket, regardless of different conditions.

He said the experienced Kiwi outfit had learned to cut their cloth to suit short preparation times and would knuckle down quickly after arriving on Saturday.

"Three training sessions, it just has to be enough," he told AAP.

"It's good to have at least played Test cricket. To have come out of Twenty20 cricket or a one-day series would have been tough over there.

"Playing under lights, shaking off the time difference, we'll have to speed all that up a little and just be ready."

New Zealand's prospects rest heavily on the shoulders of Williamson and Taylor.

The world class pair are coming off hundreds against England in Hamilton, sharing an unbroken stand off 213.

The current and former captains have now combined for 6703 runs as a third-wicket partnership in all formats, the third most in cricket history.

They sit behind Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene-Kumar Sangakkarra combination (10,305 runs) and India's Sachin Tendulkar-Rahul Dravid mix (7239).

Fourth are Australians Ricky Ponting and Damien Martin (4123).

Of the top four, the Kiwi duo have the best average partnership of 58.28.