A rampant Australia start firm favourites in the first Test against New Zealand starting here Thursday with speed demon Brett Lee at his blistering best after tormenting the Black Caps in the one-day series.As the tourists aim for a clean sweep in the Tests to complement the 5-0 drubbing they handed out in the one-day series, their ranks have been further bolstered with opening batsman Matthew Hayden declared fit after injuring a shoulder in the second ODI.The Kiwis have attempted to put a brave face on the Tests, adamant that they have put the morale-shattering one-day fixtures behind them, and they even practised in their whites to get themselves into five-day mode. “We both start nil-all,” said batsman Craig McMillan, while senior batsman Nathan Astle said any talk of the Black Caps being psyched out by Australia was just the media talking”.But little has changed in the make-up of the teams and the New Zealand batsmen have shown themselves unable to cope with the lightning pace of Lee.He was the scourge of the New Zealand batsmen in the one-dayers and has warned he is in the right frame to better the 160.8 kilometre (99.7 mile) an hour delivery — his fastest and second only to Shoaib Akhtar’s 161kmh in 2002 — which he let fly in the last one-day match.“To see that 161 come up was a pretty amazing thing and I feel I can definitely go a bit quicker . It felt like I was going close to flat-out but it feels deep down there’s a bit more petrol in the tank,” he said.
