We can beat this Australian team - Taylor

Ross Taylor, New Zealand's captain, has said his side has the ability to beat Australia in their own backyard in December. New Zealand are coming off a tour of Zimbabwe during which they narrowly won the one-off Test, and will play a two-Test series in Australia starting next month.

"When we had a meeting before we went to Zimbabwe, Wrighty [New Zealand's coach, John Wright] said that we want to take one game [Test] off Australia," he told Sunday Star Times. "We know we have to play better than we did in Zimbabwe. But we definitely feel we can beat this Australian team.

"It will be tough and we need to be going into day five [of the Tests in Australia] still in the match. We know they will come hard at us, we know they will try to attack us and play an aggressive style of game."

That the former Australia coach, John Buchanan, is now New Zealand's director of cricket, is a plus, Taylor said. "He [Buchanan] will know their players better than anyone and he'll know their psyche and the way they go into a game against a team like ourselves. It would be naive of us not to have a chat with him and I'm sure, with his new role, he will want to stamp his authority - a win over his old team will go a long way."

Taylor took over the captaincy from Daniel Vettori in June, and the tour to Zimbabwe was his first series in charge. The team, he said, is now working on becoming more aggressive. "We are trying to get an aggressive attitude as much as possible in our team, regardless of who we are playing against, and show as much fighting spirit and pride in playing for New Zealand as possible. It's exciting to lead these guys and to see where we can get to in the next couple of years."

The squad for the tour of Australia is expected to be named on Wednesday. The first Test begins at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 1.