As Pattinson, Cutting and Starc were earlier undergoing a bowl-off in the nets, giving their batsmen a serious working over in the process, curator Kevin Mitchell was putting up a sign saying: "Keep off wet wicket block."
Hussey, having glanced off a few thunderbolts from tall Queenslander Cutting, warned the New Zealand lineup that a friendly Allan Border Field was almost as far removed as they could get from the much-awaited day one of the home test summer.
"We really enjoy playing in the fast, bouncy conditions. We adapt to those conditions very well; whereas teams from around the world, it does take a bit of time if they've been playing on slower pitches," Hussey said.
Peter Siddle, in his 26th test, will lead a pace attack containing two debutants, then spinner Nathan Lyon, with five caps, who admitted he had never been to The Gabba before. It was reportedly Australia's greenest pace attack since the mid 1980s, about the same time as New Zealand's previous win across the Tasman, at Perth in 1985.
McCullum said of Pattinson, Cutting and Starc: "They'll definitely be different. But it was a huge surprise for us to come up against three guys who got named in the test match. We knew they'll get themselves up, we expect them to bowl faster and better and put us under more pressure. Equally we've got room for improvement so we've got to make sure we counter them and put them under pressure.
