Mike Hesson expects Australia to provide a tough challenge over the upcoming three One-Day Internationals with New Zealand despite its recent struggles.
Australia goes into the series having been comprehensibly beaten by South Africa in three Tests and five ODIs — Steve Smith's side only winning the last Test in Adelaide.
In contrast the Kiwis arrive in Australia after their first Test series win over Pakistan in 31 years.
And Hesson wants to maintain that momentum against its near neighbours, but he knows it will be a difficult task as Australia's ODI performances have shown much more consistency than those in the longest format.
"Their one-day side is a heck of a lot more settled than their Test side," Hesson said at a media conference in Sydney.
"Their one-day side has been incredibly consistent, bar the South African series they've been very good for a number of years. Currently ranked number one in the world, so I don't think the unsettled nature of the Test side will lead into the one-day side.
"We want to hang on to the Chappell-Hadlee [Trophy]. We've won it the last couple of times and it's really important for us. Australia are our big brothers and to win a bilateral series against them is important to us."
Hesson's squad shows a few new faces following the retirements of Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Grant Elliot, while Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Corey Anderson are all injured.
But the Black Caps coach is confident the new generation have plenty to offer. "We are missing some key players," he added. "We've lost over 1000 one-day international games [in experience] since the World Cup.
"To replace those is a challenge. But we've also got some exciting players that you guys won't know a lot about. Hopefully you will in a week or 10 days.
"That's important for us to give them this sort of exposure, and find out which ones we want to keep backing and supporting."
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