James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile named in Australia

The lack of an adequate preparation was blamed for New Zealand’s slow start in its three-Test series against Australia, but Richardson said he was confident his players would quickly adapt for the first Test in Hobart, starting next Thursday.

The pair have been given the nod after Mitchell Starc was ruled out of the match which gets under way on December 10 due to a stress fracture in his right foot suffered in the third Test victory over New Zealand.

He blasted an important 24 runs in the first innings and then limped the final two runs needed for victory on Sunday with Peter Siddle as Australia scraped to a three-wicket win.

“I’m definitely fit enough”, Coulter-Nile said.

“If it’s two different lots of surgery, we might not see much of Mitchell for a little while”, he said.

“Injury’s always disappointing but that’s part and parcel of fast bowling so it’s about recovering now and healing and getting back on the horse and I guess working back on my bowling”.

Last week in this space I expressed my concerns about how the match would go, how well the new-coloured ball would work, and for the safety of the players.

But left-hander Shaun Marsh’s 49 and 28 each from Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh completed the win for Australia in 51 overs in their second innings. Fast bowling is hard work.

Selection panel chair Rod Marsh said Coulter-Nile’s ability to bowl at 140kmh earned him the call up, despite not having played a Sheffield Shield game this season.

Meanwhile, Ian Healy says Peter Nevill would be a more than competent Test No. 6 but doesn’t believe the foreshadowed promotion of the wicketkeeper up the order for the series against the West Indies shapes as a long-term solution to shore up the middle order.

The 26-year-old has done a mountain of fitness work in recent years, dropping 22 kilograms.

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson on Monday hailed the successful debut of day-night Test cricket and expressed hope that more boards will embrace the concept which can greatly enhance the traditional format of the game.

Smith also had glowing praise for senior paceman Peter Siddle, who battled back spasms and the loss of his ailing grandmother, to take his 200th Test wicket during the Test and hit the winning runs.