Australia to make late call on Boxing Day XI

Australia will wait until Boxing Day morning to make a final call on their XI for the second Domain Test against New Zealand, but captain Tim Paine has confirmed Michael Neser remains firmly in the mix for a debut.

Speaking on Christmas morning, Paine said Australia were close to settling on their side but would wait to assess the MCG pitch on Thursday.

James Pattinson has already been confirmed to return to the XI in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood, while Australia are still considering taking the unconventional route and picking a fifth specialist bowler.

"We'll find out tomorrow. The wicket is a bit unknown ... but we've got a plan in place for both scenarios (with Neser or without)," Paine said on Wednesday.

"We've probably got two different teams (in mind), to be honest, so we'll make the final call tomorrow."

Should Australia opt for a five-strong frontline bowling attack, it would likely be Queenslander Neser who would make his Test debut, while Travis Head would be the obvious candidate to drop out of the side.

A small group of Australian players went through their paces in the MCG nets on Christmas morning, including David Warner, who has recovered from a knock to his left hand at training on Monday.

Both Neser and Head were also among those who took the opportunity for some extra batting practice, alongside Paine, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns.

"Looking at the wicket in the last two or three Boxing Day Test matches, it's been very hard to take 20 wickets," Paine said.

"Our batting team has been scoring a lot of runs so if we were to go one more bowler, we would be comfortable they could do the job.

"The bowlers we would be bringing in can all bat so while we're taking a batter out, we're probably lengthening our line-up."

If he does debut, Neser will become the 459th man to play a Test for Australia.

His inclusion would see Paine elevated to No.6. Asked if he was confident enough in his batting for the promotion, Paine said: "Yep, otherwise we wouldn't be doing it."

Fielding five frontline bowlers is a strategy Australia have only used once in the past decade, in the 2013 Sydney Test against Sri Lanka when then-gloveman Matthew Wade batted at No.6.

Speaking on Tuesday, Australia coach Langer said a fifth specialist bowler may also be necessary if the MCG pitch appeared as lifeless as it had in recent years.

After taking another look at the surface on Wednesday, Paine remained hopeful of a livelier deck.

"We think we know what we're going to get, but with a nice day today and tomorrow morning we want to make sure it is what we think it is," he said.

"With what's happened in the last Shield game and the last few Test matches, the MCG wicket has got a little bit of intrigue to it.

"From what I'm looking at at the moment I would (expect it to be livelier), it's got some pretty thick live grass on it at the moment which I haven't seen here before." 

Domain Test Series v New Zealand

Australia squad: David Warner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Michael Neser, Peter Siddle

New Zealand: Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson (c)

First Test: Australia won by 296 runs in Perth

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (Seven, Fox & Kayo)