Ferguson, 25, is capable of bowling at more than 150 km/h, and was called into the Black Caps squad for the series in the absence of injured quick Adam Milne.

Speaking on Saturday, Williamson wouldn't say whether Ferguson would play in game one, but said the paceman had done his chances no harm with a fiery spell in the nets.

"He sent a couple of messages at training," Williamson said.

"He bowled really nicely so we'll have to wait and see.

"He bowls quick and run in and bumped me a few times which was great. It's what you want to face and it's fantastic preparation. The Australians will do the same."

With the Black Caps looking to defend the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy they retained early this year at home, Williamson said New Zealand would assess the pitch on Sunday before making a final decision on their XI.

"We want to have another look at the surface tomorrow," he said.

"There's a little bit of uncertainty about what the surface might do. It has spun here in the past.

"It looks a good surface, it's quite hard, they might have rolled in perhaps some old grass clippings to get a little bit more grass on it, maybe to add a bit of pace."

Williamson is one of the finest batsmen in the game. He is the fifth-ranked ODI batsman in the world, and No. 4 in Tests.

Yet while he averages close to 50 in the long form of the game against Australia, his ODI record – while far from terrible – is not as flattering. He averages 38 in six innings when facing his country's trans-Tasman rivals in ODIs, with a strike rate of less than 69, and just one half-century.

Still, Australian captain Steve Smith said his Black Caps counterpart was the linchpin of New Zealand's batting line-up.

"They've got a lot of quality players in their line up. A lot of the time they bat around Kane Williamson, he's sort of the glue in their middle order," Smith said.

"I wouldn't say there's any vulnerabilities there. Kane's a quality player and he's capable of scoring big runs. He's certainly one that we'll need to get on top of if we want to have success in this series."

While New Zealand's team has changed considerably since the 2015 World Cup final loss to Australia, Smith said the Black Caps provided were a challenging opposition, both with bat and ball.

"They've got some dangerous players up top with [Martin] Guptill and [Tom] Latham, if he bats up top. I think he can play," Smith said.

"They've got some experience in their bowling line up with [Tim] Southee and [Trent] Boult and a bit of pace in this young fella that I've heard about, Ferguson."

Questioned about how Australia had approached preparing for the relatively unknown Ferguson, Smith said that ultimately it was crucial to do the fundamentals well regardless of a bowler's identity.

"It's individual. Looking at as much footage as you can. In the end it's just about going out there and focusing on the ball and watching the ball closely, and doing the basics well."