What to expect from captain Smith

While the new era of Australian Test cricket might not include a pre-game Baggy Green Cap presentation, it will be immediately obvious from the time Steve Smith’s team sets foot on the Gabba on Thursday to take on New Zealand that all is not as it was.

Should the coin land in Smith’s favour and he follows the precedent of every Australia captain since the turn of this century by opting to bat first, then the obvious change will be local lad Joe Burns accompanying David Warner out to the middle.

And should the home team find themselves in the field on a Brisbane morning expected to yield steamy heat before the chance of an afternoon thunderstorm, the fresh element will be not so much the new ball bowlers employed but the umbrella cordon of catchers behind the wicket.

Smith will feature in a new-look cordon // Getty

The retirements of ex-skipper Michael Clarke, ‘keeper Brad Haddin and allrounder Shane Watson means the structure of Australia’s slips catching personnel will include new gloveman Peter Nevill in his first home Test behind the stumps.

And the possibility of Mitchell Starc crouched in the gully, if he’s not at the top of his bowling mark with a shiny red Kookaburra ball in his hand.

Starc, who began his junior cricket career as a wicketkeeper before opting to pursue it as a left-arm pace bowler, spent some time in the specialist catching position during training at the Gabba today, as did allrounder Mitchell Marsh.

Marsh ready to cement Test spot

With Adam Voges taking over the first slip catching post that was for many years Watson’s domain, and Steve Smith moving up a peg to replace Clarke at second, Warner will occupy third slip even though he continues to be troubled by pain in his recently fractured left thumb.

As is tradition, the least experienced member of the team – which on Thursday will be Queensland batsman Burns – will be given the job of fielding ‘under the lid’ at short leg.

Which means Warner’s former place in the gully is up for grabs, and while it’s expected Marsh will begin there, the unusual sight of a fast bowler in the slips cordon could become commonplace if Starc grabs his opportunity.

“I’m sneaking back to that wicketkeeping spot, putting a bit of pressure on Nev (Peter Nevill) there,” Starc joked when asked about his trial in the catching cordon at training today.

“It’s nice to get out there and take some catches, I’ve done some work with (former Test ‘keeper and New South Wales coach) Steve Rixon when he was around.”

Starc reveals Black Caps targets

Marsh, who is known as a safe close-to-the-wicket catcher and hauled in a couple of spectacular grabs during today’s session, has spent a bulk of his seven-Test career to date occupying fielding positions in front of the wicket.

But as a talented junior Australian rules footballer, Marsh has shown he’s capable of pulling down high ‘marks’ from edges and miscued cut shots that can fly at speed on bouncy Australian pitches in much the same way that Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner did for the dominant West Indies teams of the 1980s.

“I’ve been doing some work in there with (former Australia opener now Western Australia coach) Justin Langer in the last month,” Marsh said today.

“It's an opportunity for me and Starcy to field in there.

“It's a handy position if you're bowling plenty of overs to grab a rest, and hopefully take a few snares.”

Leadership key to Khawaja's Test return

Should Australia bat first when the first of three Commonwealth Bank Tests against the Black Caps begins on Thursday, then it will represent the first time in almost three years that Warner has walked out to begin a Test in Australia without Chris Rogers at his side.

The new Test vice-captain said today that the rapport he built with veteran left-hander Rogers – despite erroneous reports that surfaced during the Ashes that the contrasting characters did not get along – was vital in them becoming one of the most prolific opening pairs of recent times.

And having opened with Burns during the recent one-day international series that followed this year’s Ashes campaign in the UK – which marked Rogers’ retirement from the international arena – Warner believes it won’t take long to establish a similar relationship with his new sidekick.

“It’s good to actually understand that a player of his (Burns’s) quality, he’s got a very good temperament and he likes to play similar to me,” Warner said today.

“He likes to go after those (loose) deliveries and he’s very patient as well, so that’s one thing that I’ll have to do is understand his game and how he has to get off strike.

“If I think he is working in the position where (he) looks to drive down the ground, or if he’s trying to squirt (the ball) out to cover instead of driving along the ground that’s something where I’ll go up to him and say’ look mate, this is what we’ve got to do’.

“And whether he takes it on board or not, that’s up to him.

“But it’s about having that responsibility together to get to know each other’s games so well.

“And that’s one thing me and Chris (Rogers) did very well.”

The other ‘previously unseen in Australia’ element of the coming Test series will be the new ‘secret delivery’ that off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed to have been working on prior to the Ashes, and which he suggests is a similar yet different variation of his earlier mystery ball dubbed ‘Jeff’.

Lyon expects typical Gabba pitch

What won’t change for Lyon is his preparedness to take the fight up to batsmen the likes of NZ captain Brendon McCullum who – in the same mould as former England powerhouse Kevin Pietersen – likes nothing better than trying to belt an opposition spinner out of the attack.

Usually by clubbing him beyond the stadium.

Lyon expects that McCullum, one of the cleanest and most devastating ball strikers in the long and short-forms game, will look to treat him with similar disdain during the coming series.

“It’s a massive challenge, and I can’t wait to be honest,” Lyon said today.

“I’m approaching it very similar to (bowling against) Kevin Pietersen.

“They seem to not like spinners very much. They want to try and hit you out of the attack and it provides chances for (the bowler).

“There’s going to be the odd occasion that he may get me and hit me out of the ground, but he’s a world-class batter, an exciting batter for the game, and I’m looking forward to taking up the challenge and seeing how I go.”