KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's women get a chance to test their cricket progress when they start a five-match ODI series against Australia in Darwin this week.
They have spent the last three months training in chilly Christchurch, so 28C Darwin will take some adjusting to. But the prospects of tackling the world champions in their back yard has the White Ferns buzzing.
"We're really looking forward to it. They are ultra competitive, but we are really determined, focused and certainly up for the challenge," captain Haidee Tiffen said yesterday.
The women's World Cup is in Australia in February 2009, so this Rose Bowl series is good preparation, and both teams have selected young players with an eye on the future.
New Zealand wins over Australia are not unusual. They beat the Aussies to win the World Cup at Lincoln in 2000 and beat them in India at the ICC quadrangular tournament last March, chasing 260 to win by five wickets.
So there's no bogey associated with beating Australia, even though 27-year-old Tiffen, an international since 1999 with 90 games behind her, knows all parts of their game will need to be sharp.
"Any team can beat any other," she said. "The competition is getting closer and we're certainly getting closer to Australia. We've got to carry that on into this series."
The experienced hard core of both squads remains intact, but New Zealand have two newcomers to top-level cricket in Central Districts' Rachel Priest and Canterbury's Amy Satterthwaite.
Australia's batting champion, captain Karen Rolton, needs 61 runs to join compatriot Belinda Clarke (4844 runs) and New Zealand's Debbie Hockley (4064) as the only players to have scored more than 4000 ODI runs.
Rolton, this year's inaugural ICC women's player of the year, knows what to expect from New Zealand.
"Each series we play, the result can go either way. I know if we don't play to our potential, the Kiwis can beat us. They push us to play our best cricket every game we play against them," Rolton, 32, said.
"The two teams really enjoy playing against each other."
Although Australia swept their five-game series in Brisbane last October, the first three games were won by a whisker - one run, one wicket and five runs respectively.
"Our team has a never-say-die attitude which seems to get us over the line in tight games," Rolton added. "I think as a team we handle pressure very well, especially when things aren't going our way."
Tiffen, a 27-year-old teacher at Hillmorton High School, in Christchurch, and Helen Watson are the survivors of that World Cup triumph seven years ago. They will need to be in top form - with other key players including batsmen Sara McGlashan, Maria Fahey and Aimee Mason and bowler Louise Milliken - if the Rose Bowl is to be snared.
NZ Team
Haidee Tiffen (c), Nicola Browne, Sophie Devine, Maria Fahey, Sarah McGlashan, Beth McNeill, Aimee Mason, Rowan Milburn, Louise Milliken, Rachel Priest, Amy Satterthwaite, Sarah Tsukigawa, Helen Watson.
Schedule (all games in Darwin): Thursday: v Australia, Twenty20; Saturday: 1st ODI; Sunday: 2nd ODI; July 25: 3rd ODI; July 28: 4th ODI; July 29: 5th ODI.
