Lehmann could have been suggesting a change of pace to furrow New Zealand's brow, for example introducing spin with the new ball a la Dipak Patel in the corresponding World Cup fixture 23 years ago. But when your squad includes a core of fast, aggressive, well-performed bowlers, that is unlikely. So Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins will be eyeing McCullum on Eden Park's postage stamp ground with electricity in the air from a packed 40,000.
Left-armer Johnson's form is strong. He has taken 18 wickets in his last nine ODIs at 16 apiece. The last time the teams met in an ODI was at Nagpur in the 2011 World Cup, and Johnson took four for 33, and another express operator, Shaun Tait, three for 35 as Australia eased home by seven wickets.
But this is a vastly different New Zealand. McCullum has scored 157 runs in his three cup innings to date off just 86 balls. Eighteen of them have whistled to the boundary - 11 have cleared them.
But New Zealand have not faced anything of the calibre Australia possess in the cup.
"New Zealand have been very impressive," Lehmann said. "It's going to be interesting to see how they play against us - I'm sure they'll be really aggressive, so it's going to be a cracker game."
New Zealand have dispersed until tomorrow for some well-earned time out. Australia, by contrast, have had their cup plans hit by cyclone Marcia, which scrubbed out their game against Bangladesh in Brisbane on Saturday.
Lehmann has flagged the idea of arranging a practice game for his players, who otherwise face the prospect of not having played a game in a fortnight when they step onto Eden Park.
Lehmann is also getting it in the neck from his old teammate Shane Warne, who suggested the coach needs to step back from any hint of running the Australian show and had become too powerful in on-field tactical planning. To many Australians, the coach is seen a backroom figure. NZME.
