Cricket: Warner doesn't think Black Caps 'too nice'

David Warner and Brendon McCullum shared a laugh during a Gabba test. Photo / Getty

Australian opening batsman David Warner said it was "a little bit quiet" out in the middle in the first cricket test but he respected the Black Caps' approach to the game.

New Zealand don't tend to engage in verbal exchanges under Brendon McCullum's watch, which the Australians have found a little unnerving. They famously went at New Zealand even harder during this year's World Cup final and promised to be aggressive in the current series in Australia.

It has led to some labelling the Black Caps "too nice" but Warner, who notched centuries in both innings in the first test in Brisbane, disagrees.

"I thought the Gabba test match was played in great spirit and it was great to have the Black Caps in for a beer in our change rooms, particularly given the significance of the 100-year anniversary of the Anzacs," Warner wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. "It was a pretty casual affair just chilling out and having a chat to some of the guys we know. For me, I know Kane Williamson and Trent Boult pretty well from playing together at the Sunrisers in the IPL.

"Obviously it's a little bit quiet out there in the middle when there's no banter, but that's the way Brendon McCullum wants his team to play and we totally respect that.

"I don't think they're 'too nice' at all. At the end of the day we're both out there to win."

Warner criticised McCullum ahead of the test series, calling him "immature" for a column McCullum penned several weeks ago during Australia's ODI series in England, in which McCullum criticised the actions of Australian skipper Steve Smith over an incident when he turned down the chance to call back England allrounder Ben Stokes who had blocked a ball thrown towards the stumps with a hand during an ODI at Lord's in September, and was given out obstructing the field.

He also said McCullum was trying to the Black Caps "the world's politest team".

"I had a bit of a crack at Brendon over some comments he made in his newspaper column during the Ashes series, but we're good mates," Warner said. "He just laughed about it when I saw him and for us it's about moving forward and playing the game in the right spirit."