Black Caps coach Mike Hesson says Kane Williamson is undeterred by Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle's comments about him.
Kane Williamson after scoring his 12th Test century at Perth, 2015. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Williamson, regarded by some pundits as the best batsman in the world, has certainly lived up to his reputation in the ongoing series.
The zen master has been calm and confident at the crease, waiting for the right ball to unleash a textbook cover drive.
Peter Siddle, set to be recalled for the third Test after being 12th man in Brisbane and Adelaide, preached the value of patience when asked about his plans for Williamson.
"That's one thing he's very good at and that's one thing we can be slightly better at in our bowling - building pressure and getting them out that way," Siddle said.
"You look at all the class players in world cricket, it's worked hasn't it?
"It worked against Sachin (Tendulkar). It worked against KP (Kevin Pietersen).
"We've got to work hard here, put a lot of pressure on."
However, Mike Hesson said Williamson doesn't pay much attention to pre-game hype from the opposition.
"Many sides have tried different things against Kane, some of them have been more successful than others but he's a really unflustered sort of character, he never gets too far ahead of himself so you'd never know whether he got a hundred in the last game or he missed out, he just goes about his work so he's in a good space."
Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
However that hasn't stopped the 30-year-old Siddle from backing himself to get the better of Williamson.
"I'd like to hope so," Siddle said.
"I've had some good success against him in the past.
"I have troubled him, and had some good battles with him.
"He's been a class player these past 12, 18 months and he has been a handful this series ... he's got a lot smarter with how he plays."
Meanwhile Mike Hesson said the Black Caps are drawing on their 2011 test win against Australia in Hobart as inspiration ahead of the third test in Adelaide.
New Zealand hasn't lost a test series in the last eight attempts and Hesson plans on extending that to nine.
"We know that Australia are vulnerable like everyone else when you put them under pressure and I think as a batting unit we haven't been able to put them under pressure yet so once we do that we'll find out how we respond."
