Cricket: Black Caps fired up as Johnson escapes ban

Scott Styris and Mitchell Johnson both received fines for their altercation in Napier last night. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Expect more fireworks between the New Zealand and Australian cricket teams as the hosts boldly declared they wouldn't back down amid surprise at Mitchell Johnson avoiding suspension.

New Zealand's matchwinner Scott Styris was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for a level one breach of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) code of conduct, while Australian paceman Johnson was fined 60 per cent after being found guilty of a level two breach.

Both players pleaded guilty to match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who found Styris had contributed to the verbal altercation between the pair in Napier, whilst Johnson had sparked "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play".

The pair bumped shoulders then Johnson appeared to initiate a head clash with a helmeted Styris.

The New Zealand camp weren't commenting publicly but some were understood to be irked at Johnson's light punishment.

Physical contact between cricketers is generally a no-no. Johnson was fined 10 per cent of his match fee last December for a level one breach after pushing away fiery West Indies spinner Sulieman Benn during a confrontation with Brad Haddin in Perth.

Haddin (level one) was fined 25 per cent of his match fee whilst Benn (level two) pleaded not guilty and was suspended for two one-day internationals.

Offences included in level two of the ICC code of conduct can range from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of a player's match fee and/or two suspension points, which translates as a suspension of two ODIs or one test match.

New Zealand's spokesman, bowling coach Shane Jurgensen, declined to comment on Johnson's penalty but said the home side, 1-0 up in the series, would try to remain on the front foot in the second ODI in Auckland on Saturday.

"We don't want to back down," said Jurgensen, an Australian.

"We don't want to be mouthy, we don't want to be verbally aggressive, that's not what we want to do. But yeah, we are going to stand up for ourselves."

Jurgensen admitted surprise that Johnson had lost his cool, but put it down to the tense transtasman rivalry.

"There are four more games yet and you might see a few more things like that."

It was the second fiery exchange of the tour, after James Franklin and Shane Watson bellowed at each other in the Twenty20 opener in Wellington.

Styris played down the incident before his hearing last night, saying it was nothing more than usual between the sides in the fiercely-contested Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series. He said the New Zealanders wanted to match the tourists for competitiveness.

"There was just a bit of friendly banter out there, he (Johnson) was trying to get into my head and get me out and I was trying to win the battle over him," Styris said.

"There was nothing that you don't see in other international games. I'm sure he and the rest of them in the next game will be trying to do the same sorts of things, and we will too."

- NZPA