New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson gave his verdict on Monday (15th February) after his side lost the first Test to Australia by an innings and 52 runs.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hesson, New Zealand head coach:

"I think we were obviously behind in the game from the very start and struggled to get back into it. We were thoroughly outplayed in the Test match and that's obviously not ideal.

Question: Any positives you take from that?

Answer: Really pleased with Henry Nicholls, I think he certainly showed that he belonged. Very composed and I thought he went about things very well. Also, I thought Trent Boult was a step up in terms of sustaining his pace - so those were two things we took out of it.

Question: With Ross Taylor out is the form of Henry comforting?

Answer: Yes it is. It's hard to replace someone of Ross' experience but certainly Henry played with a lot of composure and we're very pleased for his start.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hesson, New Zealand head coach:

"There are times when you have to accept that they put the balls in good areas. The ball seamed and you're going to nick it. I think when the ball seams you do end up playing a bit wider than you'd like to and we certainly did that in the first hour or so.

Question: Do you need to make changes to the composition of the side in Christchurch?

Answer: We'll have to look at the wicket before we consider that. In this squad of 13 we have plenty of options."

SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hesson, New Zealand head coach:

"We'll be fit and firing by the time we get to Christchurch no doubt about that. We're disappointed with this result and we've been in this situation before and fought back many times so as I said, we don't get too high when we win and we don't get too low when we lose. We're consistent in how we approach things."

SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hesson, New Zealand head coach:

"Umpires are assisted in many different ways through using technology and I think it's made the game better. I think as I said, players, spectators, coaches just want as many correct decisions as possible and if that's going from 85 (per cent) to 95 (per cent) then so be it."