'Banter' to continue, says McCullum

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman, has said the heated exchanges between players, like the one between Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris in the first ODI in Napier, are likely to continue for the remainder of the series. Johnson and Styris bumped shoulders and appeared to clash heads in the 46th over of New Zealand's chase, and were fined by the match referee as a result. But McCullum said the nature of the trans-Tasman rivalry made for an intense atmosphere on the field.

''Australia is playing New Zealand, so it's always going to be testy,'' McCullum was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald. ''Both teams are playing for their countries, trying to win for their countries, and we're always going to have banter out in the middle. What we saw [between Johnson and Styris] was two guys who are extremely passionate in trying to pull through for their country.

''Both players had a talking to from the match referee, so that might suggest it went a little bit too far, it probably bordered on just stepping over the mark, but once we get out there again I'm sure the fight will come to the fore in both teams again.

''I don't think it's a bad thing, to be honest. It shows everyone watching how much it means to us.'' McCullum said Australia's defeat in the first ODI, by two wickets, could prompt them to be more aggressive in the second game at Eden Park in Auckland. ''I guess that's the way Australia always come out - they play hard but they try to push the rules as far as they can,'' McCullum said. ''They're obviously going to come back twice as hard now and we're just going to have to step up again.

''We want to be as aggressive and uncompromising as we can - in terms of our skill set. Any of those other things, we don't try to instigate."

Michael Hussey, the Australian batsman, said his team was quite focussed on the cricket. ''I didn't really see it, actually. I was stuck out on the boundary,'' he said. ''It seemed like they bumped into each other but it's been dealt with now. Most things that happen out in the middle, it's best if they're just left out in the middle. We're certainly at our best when we're just concentrating on our cricket.''

However, Hussey added that outbursts similar to Johnson's would continue. When asked if Johnson's actions were out of character, he said: ''He's a pretty passionate sort of guy, he plays the game hard, and out in the middle there are always going to be emotions. It's happened throughout the history of the game and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Fast bowlers are always pretty emotional sorts of guys. New Zealand's approach hasn't surprised us at all.''