MELBOURNE — Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann has defended wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and the team's vocal aggression during their World Cup final win over New Zealand. Haddin and his teammates have come under fire for their send-offs of New Zealand's batsmen at the final, though no action was taken by the match referee and ‘Black Caps' skipper Brendon McCullum played it down in his post-match media conference. Haddin compounded anger in New Zealand by saying they had got what they deserved after being “too nice” during their pool phase clash in Auckland, which Australia lost. “He's copped a bit (of criticism), hasn't he?” Lehmann told Adelaide radio station 5AA. “We like to play our game, no one got reported out of the game, so we must have played it fair. “It was a little bit disappointing, but people are entitled to their opinions and you're going to have good and bad times. You accept that and you move on. “We're happy with the way we played, obviously. We knew we wanted to be really aggressive against them. And look, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.” Black Caps need McCullum Brendon McCullum's inspirational captaincy has lifted New Zealand and the flamboyant batsman should continue leading the side in all three formats at least until next year's World Twenty20, former captain Stephen Fleming said. Since last year, New Zealand at home has won Test series against India, West Indies and Sri Lanka and dazzled in ODIs and breezed into its maiden World Cup final at Melbourne. Great rival Australia won the title but for six weeks, the Black Caps displayed an aggressive brand of cricket which earned them eight successive victories and the admiration of millions. Former captain Daniel Vettori and seamer Kyle Kills have since retired but Fleming hoped that the 33-year-old McCullum will stick around to continue the “good work.” “I hope he opts to carry on in charge of the side across all formats for the foreseeable future,” Fleming wrote in his column on the International Cricket Council's website Thursday.— Agencies
