You know what? They deserved it: Haddin on sledging 'nice' New Zealand in World Cup final

Australia came under heavy criticism because of their behaviour in the World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. There were a couple of instances where Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was found having a go at the Kiwi batsmen. Haddin had a word or two with Martin Guptill after the latter was cleaned up by Glenn Maxwell and then, as Grant Elliott departed after playing a hard fought innings of 83, he was given a mouthful by the Aussies. Haddin came under fire for his send-offs but he defended his actions by saying that Black Caps “deserved it” [caption id=“attachment_2179469” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Guptill (L) is bowled as Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (R) celebrates. AFP[/caption] Speaking to Sydney radio station Triple M on Monday, Haddin said, “You know what? They deserved it.” Haddin justified his sledging by suggesting that the Kiwis’ pleasant attitude in their group stage match at Auckland made him uncomfortable. “They were that nice to us in New Zealand and we were that uncomfortable,” Haddin said. “I said in the team meeting: ‘I can’t stand for this anymore, we’re going at them as hard as we can.’ “It was that uncomfortable. All they were was that nice to us for seven days. “I said, ‘I’m not playing cricket like this. If we get another crack at these guys in the final I’m letting everything out,” he added When Australia captain Michael Clarke was quizzed about the players’ behaviour, he denied giving any batsmen send-offs, “I can’t remember a player getting a send-off. Maybe I was too far from the action. Obviously it’s a World Cup final. There’s passion, there’s excitement, there’s adrenaline running through the guys’ bodies. Like I’ve said my whole career, you cop as good as you give. I know this team has copped a fair bit of stick throughout this World Cup. Boys have got long memories. Maybe there was something there. I’m not too sure. But I don’t think there was anything that was below the belt, as to say,” Clarke said in the post-match press conference. However, Brendon McCullum wasn’t concerned about the behaviour of the Aussies and he said that he didn’t want to go deep into the matter. “Look, it wasn’t really discussed within the group. A send-off is a send-off. It’s not something we are necessarily concerned about. Again, I think the focus should be on how well Australia played and how much they deserve this victory rather than any of those sort of minor issues on the way through. Yeah, I certainly don’t want to go too deep into that,” McCullum said in the post-match press conference.