Hoping to bounce back in the three-match series against Australia with a win in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, New Zealand will be glad to know its pacer Trent Boult is recovering very well from the muscle injury he picked up last month. 

Boult missed the last Test in Perth where the visitors suffered a massive defeat but seems to have progressed swiftly, delivering a fine spell when he turned up for a Victoria state XI versus his own teammates in a warm-up game. 

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"I was a proud representative of Victoria yesterday. It was good fun and nice to get some overs under my belt, field for a bit, and get some time in my legs," the 30-year-old told reporters on Monday (December 23).
 
"It’s all going well, I feel like I’ve ticked the right boxes in terms of my rehab and preparations, and I’m looking forward to getting out there. It was more about rhythm and loading from my point of view."

Opening batsman Tom Latham whom Boult dismissed in the warm-up game said the pacer "is tracking pretty well and he was running in pretty hard," before adding, "He was his usual self in the nets the other day, bouncing around, which is a good sign. It’s great to have the quality of Trent come back into the side."

Boult was also happy to know that curator Matt Page has promised some life on the track for bowlers, responding quite nicely to the criticism the surface at the iconic MCG has faced in recent years. 

"We’re probably expecting something definitely different in terms of the wicket here, from how it’s played over the last few years," he said.

"From my point of view, I’m going to be looking to pitch the ball up, swing it around and hopefully get some wickets that way."

(Inputs from Reuters)