Australia preparing for New Zealand threat, says Steve Smith

Australia captain Steve Smith says his side are working hard to prepare for the threat of New Zealand's dangerous swing bowlers.

Smith's side have won Test series at home against the West Indies and New Zealand ahead of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy ODI series, which starts in Auckland on February 3.

He lifted the lid on what his team were doing to counter the threat from left-armer Trent Boult, ranked the world's top ODI bowler.

"There's a few different things you can do," he said, listing using a bowling machine or softer balls that swing quite a lot. "It's hard to train... and try and form sort of a new technique.

"Guys know what to expect and we've got to keep working on it as much as we can and be ready to go."

There could be some relief for the tourists, however, with reports that Boult's new ball partner Tim Southee may not recover from a foot injury in time.

Live One-Day International Cricket

"I think the wickets in New Zealand for one-day cricket are going to swing around a bit," Smith said.

"We're going to get some practice in on those conditions.They're going to prepare wickets that are going to do a bit."

Smith said Australia had the tools to exploit the local conditions and is keen to improve on their away form.

"We've got some bowlers there to hopefully get a bit out of that and the batters are going to have to adapt a little bit better than we have previously," he said. "It's a big challenge; we're going to have to be at our best if we want to beat them.

"We're very hungry for New Zealand - we haven't performed extremely well away from home recently. That's a big thing on my agenda.

"It's going to be a tough one for us, they play very well at home."

The series starts in Auckland before moving on to Wellington on February 6 and Hamilton on February 8. Two Test matches follow in Wellington from February 12 and Christchurch from February 20.