Australians talk tough ahead of Brisbane test match

November 17, Brisbane, Australia - The Australian cricket team has brashly talked up their chances of winning the first trans-Tasman test, which is due to begin in Brisbane tomorrow.

Bowler Shane Warne has stated that he will be targeting New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, Glenn McGrath has revealed that he will be after Nathan Astle, and Australian batsman Matthew Hayden has vowed to hit New Zealand bowler Daniel Vettori out of the ground.

The New Zealand team's reaction to this Australian bravado was muted. "It's just history repeating itself", said former New Zealand coach and former test player John Bracewell. "They just have a set of lines they've been using since I've been coming over here and it's exactly the same story, just a different name saying it. It's just repetitious", he went on to say. New Zealand batsman Scott Styris went further, labelling the Australians' comments as "a yawn".

Australia is widely tipped to win the opening match of the two test series, especially due to New Zealand's loss of frontline players James Franklin, Darryl Tuffey and Shane Bond to injury.