Despite the woeful form of New Zealand in South Africa, Michael Hussey is warning his Australia team-mates to brace themselves for a backlash when the two sides meet in the Chappell-Hadlee series starting in a fortnight.
Hussey, a two-time centurion in the recent series against Sri Lanka, skipperedthe Australian side that was whitewashed in the Chappell-Hadlee one-day internationals in New Zealand this year.
But the prolific left-hander revealed that the disappointment of losing the trophy is the driving force for his team to exact revenge on home soil.
"It's always a very tough series against the Kiwis because they seem to grow an arm and a leg when they play us," Hussey told the Herald on Sunday.
"There is a lot of rivalry between the two teams and we are going to have to be at our best to beat New Zealand.
"We don't like not having it [the trophy] in our hands so its going to be a hard series for both sides."
The inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Series was shared in 2004, the Australians inflicted a 2-1 defeat on New Zealand in 2005, but the Black Caps showed their resilience to bounce back and regain the trophy this year, when Hussey stood in for injured captain Ricky Ponting.
The Chappell-Hadlee trophy and the Twenty20 World Cup are the only major prizes in world cricket not in the world champions' trophy cabinet, and Hussey believes the Black Caps can be party-poopers again when the series kicks off in Adelaide on December 14.
"If he's fit Shane Bond is the key bowler for New Zealand and he's a world-class performer," Hussey said. "Daniel Vettori is a threat with the bat and his bowling and they've got other good players who have played well against us.
"Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent, and Jacob Oram is another excellent cricketer so they're a good all-round team."
