Cricket: Bristling words turn cartoonish on eve of test

New Zealand Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

What started as bristling words from Australia's camp turned mildly cartoonish on the eve of the first test against New Zealand starting tomorrow.

First fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, perhaps supporting his teammate David Warner's dig about New Zealand being the "politest" team in world cricket, put out a tweet saying he found it "strange, when someone keeps telling the world how nice they are! You wouldn't need to say anything if it's true".

The Australian skipper Steven Smith, having invited his counterpart Brendon McCullum to bring his team into the home dressing room after the test for a drink, partly to mark 100 years since World War I, had a second mild dig at his rival captain.

McCullum got under Australian skin when he had pops at Smith and Warner during the tour of England this year. The pugnacious Warner went in to defend his captain on Tuesday.

Smith today said "we're good" of his relationship with McCullum, after they had laid a wreath to honour the Anzacs from World War I.

"He's entitled to his opinion but they knew they were coming over here after that series in England," Smith said.

"There's no hard feelings, they coming over playing that nice guy act again, but we're going to continue to play that hard, aggressive brand that we play so well."

McCullum, invited to respond to the Australian chatter, quipped that "I had to look up whether politest was a word, apparently it is".

"That's how we play and it's not for everyone, and we don't expect everyone to play the way that we do. We've worked out this gives us our greatest chance as a team."

Time was, not so long ago, that New Zealand did have players fond of having a chirp.

However McCullum and his management figured it didn't add much to their game.

"We're not very good at it and we're not skilled enough to take our eye off the ball," he said.

"For a long period of time we were searching for a bit of a soul in our team and we stumbled on the fact that sledging has never worked for us."

McCullum said the idea had to be "authentic" to work, not just be a fanciful notion to throw up which didn't have a real feel about it.

"We're not trying to put up an act. We just want to be part of a team which gives it a good crack and be the best we can. It's not forced on anyone.

"It sits comfortably with this current group of players."

McCullum insisted the columns he wrote in Britain's Daily Mail during the Ashes, which had raised Australian ire, were not intended to ruffle green and gold feathers.

"Absolutely not. Everyone in cricket is entitled to their opinion, just as Davey and Steve are entitled to theirs. At the time that was what I felt. I wasn't trying to be righteous."

And with that, it's game on tomorrow.