Fleming prepares to ruffle Aussie feathers

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming will approach the second Test against Australia starting on Thursday with the aim of ruffling the feathers of Steve Waugh's world champions.

"We're a pretty cocky bunch. We can't lose mate," Fleming told a news conference in Hobart in the island state of Tasmania on Wednesday.

"If we can ruffle feathers, which I think we've done a little bit, our development will improve a lot quicker.

"I saw Steve Waugh under pressure and I loved it. The only thing that nags with me is we don't want to do it through declarations, we want to do it through playing well."

The Kiwis fell 10 runs short of their 284-run target with four wickets still in hand in the first Test in Brisbane earlier this month in a rain-interrupted match which featured three declarations.

The three-match series resumes on Thursday with both captains adopting positive approaches.

Waugh said Australia were given a "wake-up call" after almost losing a Test they had dominated.

NEW-LOOK ATTACK

New Zealand must select a new-look bowling attack following injuries to seamers Dion Nash (stomach) and Shayne O'Connor (knee).

Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and the uncapped Shane Bond were in contention for the two positions to partner paceman Chris Cairns and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori in an attack which may struggle to take 20 wickets on a pitch which traditionally yields big scores.

New Zealand were expected to name their team late on Wednesday while Australia selected a side unchanged from the first Test, with fast bowler Andrew Bichel likely to be 12th man again.

Waugh said New Zealand would still be able to provide a Test quality attack despite the injuries to Nash and O'Connor.

"They'll have four front-line bowlers out there capable of taking Test match wickets, so I don't think it weakens their side too much, the loss of Nash and O'Connor," Waugh told a news conference.

"I'm not going to fall for that underdog sort of tag. They've sort of played on that for years. We know they're a good cricket side and we're not going to underestimate them."

Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Bichel.

Mail Cricket Editor