AFTER playing six Test matches in New Zealand, the Malaysian senior team landed in Perth Tuesday for another four matches in preparation of the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on April 6-16.
In New Zealand, Malaysia played four Test matches against the Kiwis and lost two (4-1 and 4-2), won one (3-2) and drew one (0-0).
And in the two Test matches against South Korea, Malaysia won 2-1 and drew 3-3.
In Perth, coach Stephen van Huizen's team will play three Test matches against the Australian side. However, the will warm up agaisnt Western Australian Institute of Sports on Thursday, before the Test matches on 19, 21 and 24 March.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) technical director Terry Walsh believes this is a good opportunity to gauge Malaysia's physiological development against arguably the best team in the world.
"We have put in a lot of work but are still nowhere near the pinnacle of our development plan, but the progress has been extremely encouraging.
"It will be interesting to see how we fare against Australia especially after playing six very tough matches in NZ", he said.