Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Can you feel it? I can, then again I'm a bit of a weirdo so I'll forgive you if you can't quite smell the aroma of trans-Tasman Test cricket. Finally we get some trans-Tasman Test cricket, finally we get to see how the BLACKCAPS stack up against our big brother. The most eagerly anticipated Test series for many of us is finally here where two bowling attacks will battle it out with their weapon of choice being a red Kookaburra - oh how I love a red Kookaburra.

Both Australia and New Zealand have bowlers who have experienced Test cricket to varying degrees and bowlers who have tasted the joy of taking wickets on a regular basis. Australia's bowling attack will likely consist of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon as I have Peter Siddle carrying the drinks while the kiwis will roll with Tim Southee, Trent Boult, either Doug Bracewell or Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham and Mark Craig.

Australia's bowling attack looks more threatening right off the top. They are more intimidating both in their persona and the pace at which they bowl, allowing them to create wickets when other options might not quite be working. Speed might not be the be all and end all, with accuracy and movement just as likely to produce wickets, yet Australia's personality as a cricket team stems from the ability of Johnson and Starc to pose a threat at 150km/h and the lack of such a bowler in the BLACKCAPS team means that this is a point of difference for the Aussies.

Johnson in for a massive summer: Hazlewood https://t.co/nsB88nGekB #AUSvNZ
— Chirath Vithanage (@ChirathV) November 2, 2015

Southee and Boult don't need express pace to trouble batsmen though and there will still be movement with the new ball for them to enjoy. I'm excited to see Boult in action at the Gabba where his accuracy should restrict the scoring options of Australia's top order and despite not being an overly tall bowler, Boult will make the most of the bouncier Gabba pitch. Whereas Johnson and Starc's short deliveries and wicket-busting yorkers will infiltrate the kiwis' thought process for each delivery, Boult could enjoy the benefits of having more tools in his tool belt. Boult's short deliveries will pose a threat, he's capable of quick yorkers and his stock delivery can move both ways; whether Boult can avoid the lure of attractive bounce and continue to pitch the ball up, attacking the stumps and outside edge will be the biggest question.

I'm not quite as positive about Southee as I am about Boult. Southee is a quality bowler when the ball is swinging and his height will allow him to trouble batsmen despite not digging the ball in that short. Australia's bowling attack is such that one of Johnson, Starc and Hazlewood is their third-seamer, a position that will be filled by either Bracewell or Henry for the kiwis, which is a definite worry for NZ. Starc and Boult are similar while Hazlewood and Southee are similar (leaving Johnson as the third-seamer ... ahajnrsjvndfkn skdjbkjb #Eek) and if you asked me who I would rather have in my attack between Hazlewood and Southee, I'd probably lean towards Hazlewood.

Hazlewood bowls straight up and down the channel outside off-stump and he loves to get the ball nibbling around with impeccable seam position. My conundrum with Southee is that if the ball doesn't quite swing as much after 30-odd overs and Southee's bag of tricks will be tested, his patience will be tested and his accuracy will be test. Hazlewood's style lends itself to accuracy and patience, hence this will be an interesting battle.

With Johnson being a pretty handy third-seamer (or Hazlewood/Starc), the pressure will be on either Bracewell or Henry to provide Brendon McCullum with an accurate but threatening bowling option. Australia's batsmen will be looking at this third-seamer position and I have no doubts that they will target Bracewell/Henry, looking to score plenty of runs of that third-seamer. This is a great opportunity for Bracewell/Henry to prove themselves in the Test arena, although I don't think anyone would take Bracewell/Henry over any Australian bowler.

To narrow this all down to the new-ball bowlers would be silly as Neesham and Marsh will play crucial roles as all-rounders with Lyon and Craig also hugely important as the spinners. Both Lyon and Craig are off-spinners who rely on subtley with flight and pace instead of being big turners with all the sexy doosra-like variations. Lyon has done this job for a living much longer than Craig and it's hard to argue with Lyon having the all round advantage here, thanks in part to the fact that Lyon has taken 20 wickets in four games at the Gabba.

Craig has enjoyed a nice start to his Test career, but he isn't out of the woods just yet and while Lyon has endured the ups and downs of being a Test cricket off-spinner, Craig hasn't experienced being dominated and smacked out of the attack just yet. This could due to Craig being really good or Craig just hasn't played enough Test cricket to face that adversity, either way it'll be interesting to see how Craig compares to Lyon in this first Test. Conditions will be favourable for Craig and the bounce that he loves to bowl with, just don't expect the Aussies to allow Craig to settle into his work.

Neesham and Marsh won't be as influential as the strike bowlers or the spinners but the conditions in Brisbane where it's gonna be fairly hot - temperatures will hover around the 30 degree mark - mean that these two will be called on to do their share of the work. Neesham hasn't played much Test cricket yet and is still yet to prove that he demands consistent selection even without Corey Anderson in the team, which sets this Gabba Test up nicely for him as like Marsh, Neesham bowls quicker than you think and will enjoy the extra pace and bounce in Brisbane. The fact that these two all-rounders are both at the start of their respective careers and they'll be tasked with doing an important job for either team has me highly intrigued as to who will have the greater impact with the ball.

Overall, Australia have a more fearsome attack. Not only are they capable of posing a physical threat with their pace, they are also a very skillful bowling unit who will test the techniques and patience of kiwi batsmen who are yet to face such a challenge. The kiwi bowling unit is definitely capable of taking 20 wickets, I'm just struggling to envision them ruffling feathers and grinding their way to wickets once the Gabba pitch flattens out.