The Black Caps were midway through a three-day journey home on Wednesday, August 24th, after a fruitful tour of West Indies, where they notched their first one-day and T20 series wins against the hosts.
They will have a week's break at home in New Zealand but then head back to Australia for another one-day series as they look to continue their winning momentum in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in the same country.
New Zealand's last white-ball tour of Australia ended abruptly in March, 2020, as the pandemic brought a halt to global sport.
Multiple attempts to reschedule the one-day Chappell–Hadlee Trophy backfired as governments in both countries slammed their borders shut and placed onerous quarantine demands on international arrivals.
With the last restrictions lifted this year, the three-match series can finally go ahead in Cairns from September 6th.
"Every time we come up against the Australians, we have some pretty good games," said New Zealand all-rounder Mitch Santner (30), man-of-the-series against West Indies in the one-day component.
"We obviously haven't played the series in a little bit now... We've played a lot of cricket but the week at home will be nice to get the lads freshened up, ready to go for another Chappell-Hadlee series."
Apart from the trophy, there is little at stake in the one-day international series, but both squads will have plenty of players set to feature in the T20 World Cup in October and November.
Beaten by Australia in last year's T20 World Cup final in the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand will especially relish the chance to get one over their trans-Tasman rivals ahead of the global showpiece.
Follow the action from the Chappell-Hadlee trophy on Flashscore.
