Josh Hazlewood replaces Peter Siddle for Gabba Test

Josh Hazlewood congratulated by New South Wales teammates during a Sheffield Shield match last week

Australia have opted for Josh Hazlewood ahead of Peter Siddle in their playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand to be played in Brisbane starting November 5, reports cricket.au. The 24-year old Hazlewood will be getting his 10th cap and will share the Aussie attack with Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc.

Both the Australian and New Zealand captains confirmed their starting line-ups in the pre-match press conference on the eve of the opening Test of the Chappell-Hadlee series. New Zealand too have a pretty settled side with Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry forming their bowling quadrant.

Hazlewood, who was dropped for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval said uninterrupted cricket took its toll on his body, with fatigue creeping in.

"It was obviously my longest run in a row in first-class cricket, let alone Test cricket and I think physically it probably got the better of me toward the back end of the (Ashes) series and my bowling probably showed that," he said this week.

"(I was) a little bit inconsistent, so I think I took a lot out of it for next time and for this summer as well with six Tests coming up (against NZ and the West Indies), just to be more consistent. "The added pressure of an Ashes series, it is quite tough mentally to be on tour for that long and to have the media and the public and the crowds at you all the time, it is just a step up the Ashes."

Warner focussed on cricket

Australian opening batsman David Warner on Tuesday refuted the claims of New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who asked Warner and Australian counterpart Steve Smith to concentrate on cricket rather than sledging.

In a counterclaim, Warner said the Australians are often misunderstood for their over-aggressive brand of cricket.

“I don't quite understand how a current cricket captain decides to play this brand of cricket on the field which is the Mr Nice Guys and then all of a sudden think he can comment on the way an Ashes series has panned out,” Warner said.

In his column in the Daily Mail, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had criticised Steve Smith’s decision to appeal against Englishman Ben Stokes for obstructing the field during the ODI series.The war of words is expected to spice up the on-field contest between the trans-Tasmanian rivals, with the visitors hoping to win their first Test series on Australian soil since 1985.

The line-ups:

Australia: David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitch Marsh,

Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle (12th

man).

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (c),

Jimmy Neesham, BJ Watling (wk), Mark Craig, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry

(12th man).