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Auckland: New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori will not be underestimating a wounded Australian team in what he describes as his nation's 'most important series' later this year.
The Kiwis will travel to Australia for a two-Test series in December, with the host nation firmly ensconced in a rebuilding phase after a tough 12 months.
New captain Michael Clarke inherits a side which has won just one of their last eight Tests, and will be desperate to find form ahead of a high-profile series against India later in the summer.
But New Zealand's record in the same period is similarly poor, and Vettori said it was crucial they made a statement against their trans-Tasman rivals.
"It's probably the most important series for the New Zealand public," Vettori said.
They see how we perform against Australia as a barometer of how good we are as a team and so us coming over there and playing two Test matches, there's a lot of expectation.
Unfortunately we counter (Australia's form slump) with our performances over the last 12 months and they haven't been great as a Test match nation.
We realise just how difficult it's going to be to beat Australia in Australia.
I think even with what has been going, they've still been an incredibly tough team to beat in their home country so to have a chance we'll have to play pretty well.
