Unchanged Aussie line-up confirmed for second Test in New Zealand before massive break

In the past eight Tests Australia has made just a single change, but the fully loaded line-up is ready for a last stand in New Zealand.

Australian captain Pat Cummins says his team is ready to go full bore for “the last big push” after naming the same XI for the fourth Test in a row, and the same bowling line-up for a seventh-straight match, for Friday’s second and final clash with New Zealand.

The match in Christchurch is the last in a massive touring cycle for Cummins that began with the six Tests in England in 2023, as well as a World Cup in India, five Tests on home soil and series across all-formats in that time.

At the end of the match, the Test team doesn’t play again until the 2024/25 home summer series against India, although several multi-format players will head to India for the IPL and then the T20 World Cup being played in the US and Caribbean after that.

But Cummins is adamant his Test team, which has had just one change across the past eight matches, with Cameron Green brought in to replace retired opener David Warner, was primed for one final contest, with the opportunity to seal a 2-0 series victory, knowing a break will follow, driving them.

“We know this is the last big push for a while,” Cummins said.

“That’s been a lot of the focus … it’s all geared towards this being a big week and the last big week for a while.”

Captain Pat Cummins wants the Aussies to finish in style. Picture: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Conceding the notion of managing mental exhaustion was one the fast bowling crew in particular was conscious of, Cummins said he was “proud” of the group, which had only lost one of the past six games, a shock defeat to the West Indies in Brisbane.

He said the team wasn’t “limping over the line” and had enough to heap more hometown pain on the Kiwis.

“I think I said at the start of the summer, I’d be surprised if we played all seven because it’s rare that something doesn’t pop up,” he said of he and fast bowling colleagues Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who are playing their seventh Test in less than three months.

“But thankfully we’ve all kind of managed all the little niggles that pop up pretty well. I think even the schedule this summer seems to be just when you need a week’s break, there was a week’s break in between Test matches.

“Obviously it’s been a long summer but we all still feel like we’ve got a fair bit of freshness about us. We’re not limping over the line. I still feel like we’re in a great position. I wouldn’t have thought we’d be here a couple of months ago.

“I’ve been really proud of how the group is, everyone’s in a great frame of mind. That’s down to the characters in the group and how we manage the environment.”

Naming the same team also means continued support for out-of-form batter Marnus Labuschagne and new opener Steve Smith, who has dropped to his lowest spot on the ICC Test batting ranking, falling to No.3.

New Zealand captain Tim Southee confirmed that quick Ben Sears would debut in Christchurch, making the race for the last place between Mitchell Santner and Scott Kuggeleijn.