BRISBANE (Reuters)
New Zealand batsman Mathew Sinclair knows he has a point to prove to Australia after failing miserably in the home series last year.

World champions Australia toured New Zealand in March and April 2000, winning the three-Test series 3-0. But Australian-born Sinclair, batting at No. 3, did not make a double-figure score until the third match and tallied just 61 runs at 10.17 for the series.

Sinclair, a 25-year-old right-hander, averages 51.21 in his 13 Tests overall, and is keen to show Steve Waugh's Australians he is a better player than before. Sinclair made his Test debut at Wellington against West Indies in December 1999, scoring 214 as the Kiwis won by an innings.

"After my debut the New Zealand public expected great things to come but the Australians bowled well at me and I didn't respond," Sinclair said on Thursday. "So I've got a point to prove to them, even though I was really just starting up back then. I'm much wiser now and I'm more experienced because I've had some good knocks against some good bowling attacks."

New Zealand team manager Jeff Crowe said Sinclair was now more aware of what to expect in Test match cricket and was preparing himself better. "One of his great attributes is that once he gets to 100 he really goes on," Crowe added.

Sinclair has already made a century on the Australian tour, scoring 145 earlier this week in a drawn three-day match against an Australian Capital Territory Invitational XI. "Every batsman wants consistency but it's a big aim for me," Sinclair said.

New Zealand's three-Test series against Australia starts at Brisbane on November 8. Their third tour match, a three-day game against a Queensland President's XI at Brisbane, begins on Friday.

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