Australia v New Zealand: Perth summer heat to test Kiwis

The Kiwis are about to be hit with the full force of scorching 40C days for the pink-ball Test in Perth.

Spinner Nathan Lyon, centre, with Australian openers David Warner and Joe Burns. Picture: AAP

Some like it hot, and some don’t have any choice. Like the Kiwis, who are about to be hit with the full force of scorching 40C days for the pink-ball Test in Perth.

Coming from mild summer days over in New Zealand, Kane Williamson’s side will be thrust straight into the frying pan.

Australia have flagged morning recovery sessions at the beach during the day-night Test in a bid to deal with the heat, and hope the Kiwis have packed their Jandals.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a lot hotter for the Kiwis I reckon, coming from New Zealand,” Australian opener Joe Burns said.

“I come from Brisbane so I’m used to the heat and humidity. If you get dehydrated, hopefully it means you’re doing something well out there.”

Forecasts predict the mercury will push into the high 30s or even early 40s for the first three days of the Test starting on Thursday.

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Virtually all Australia’s training will take place at the old WACA, giving New Zealand the run of Perth Stadium in a bid to adapt, with no warm-up matches on Australian soil. New Zealand opener Tom Latham admits it will be a bit sweatier than Mount Maunganui: “We had some hot weather at the Mount, but I wouldn’t say it was 40C.

“It’s one of those things we’ve got to try and get used to over the next few days and try and acclimatise to the heat.”

Australian stars David Warner and Nathan Lyon declared they would draw on their experience playing Test cricket in extreme conditions in Bangladesh to combat the heatwave.

“I’m sure it’s going to be challenging to concentrate for that long in the heat. I go back to Bangladesh when me and Pete Handscomb were batting together and it was 31C but they were saying it was actually 45C,” Warner said.

“An hour into our innings and we were walking ones. We had a day of an Ashes Test over here (in 2013-14) when it was 45C.

“These conditions are going to be quite similar. We are starting in the peak of the day as well. It starts with a lot of hydration and needing to get a lot of fluids into you.

“As a batsman it’s probably a bit easier than bowlers having to come back and do a lot of high intensity running through their spells. It’s about recovery as well. We’ve got the mornings to recover, go into pools, go to the beach and flush your legs out.”

Lyon is bracing for bowling more overs to help captain Tim Paine rotate his pace attack through high temperatures.

“They tell me to warm up and bowl from one end when it’s 40C so they can bowl three-over spells,” said the spinner,” he said.

“It depends if they pull their fingers out or not (as to how much I’ll bowl). I always prepare the normal way to bowl as many overs as I’m required to do.

“If the boys are bowling well in partnerships then hopefully we’ll get the job done.”

Meanwhile, Australian openers Warner and Burns have brushed off concerns about the MCG pitch.

The Sheffield Shield game between Western Australia and Victoria was called off on Sunday after it was deemed the MCG was too dangerous to play on.

The Boxing Day Test between Australia and New Zealand is less than three weeks away but Warner has no concerns about what sort of deck he will be confronted with.

“I’m backing the curator (Matt Page) to do a great job and bounce back from that,” Warner said.

“It’s a bit disappointing … a first-class game had to get cancelled. But at the end of the day, curators around the country try their utmost to get a pitch prepared, and prepared as well as they possibly can.”

Burns said he has no doubt a safe pitch will be produced for Boxing Day.

“I think the curator, obviously it didn’t end well this game, but I commend him for giving it a crack to try to get a result wicket down there,” Burns said.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH