Lehmann: Test team transition will be ‘easy’

“I can’t remember the last time a whole Australia side played the majority of the (domestic) one-day cricket (competition)”, Lehmann said.

Australia will embark on the campaign under Steven Smith, the new captain, and David Warner, his deputy, without Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson, who have all recently retired from the longest format.

Opener David Warner and frontline pacer Mitchell Johnson have been called in for a training programme before the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.

A squad of 20 probable and possible players, who will comprise what captain Steve Smith described as a “generational change” to the Test team, will train at Hurstville Oval today and tomorrow in a bid to overcome the recent lack of exposure to red-ball cricket. The camp will involve centre wicket and net practice across both days, Cricket Australia said.

Lehmann said players would not struggle to adapt from one-day, white ball cricket to red-ball test cricket and to the pink ball which will be used in the world’s first day-night test which to be played in Adelaide in late November.

“Again, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it but all signs are he’s going to play”. This four-to-six-week break has mentally freshened me up and I think it’s going to put me in good stead for the summer. “I’ve got to look at that and identify the partner I’m with to try to get the best out to them and for my own peace of mind”.

“You’re only ever one or two hits in the nets, probably an hour off what you can be”. We’re going to have the one Sheffield Shield game and that will be with the pink ball. But he said his recovery is still going well and he hopes to be able to bat by early next week. They know how we want to play and they know how we want to behave and act. Joe Burns, Shaun Marsh, Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja are all in the mix as top-order players, and Warner said he would need time to familiarise himself with his new offsider. “That’s getting it right with the bat first and then we’ll worry about the fielding and catching later”.

The Test squad will be named immediately after that round which will see Western Australia play Tasmania in Hobart, South Australia host NSW and Victoria take on Queensland at the MCG.

“A lot of the guys that are going to be picked aren’t too experienced, but there are a lot of guys who will help them along the way”, he said.