Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach, has come to the defense of Brad Haddin after widespread criticism over his verbal send-offs to Martin Guptill and Grant Elliott during the World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday.
Lehmann insisted the issue was blown out of proportion and that the sledging was a part of Australia's plan to unnerve New Zealand in the big clash. "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," he said in an interview to Adelaide radio station 5AA on Wednesday (April 1).
"He's copped a bit, hasn't he?" Lehmann said of the criticism Haddin had received. "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.
"You're supposed to enjoy it, enjoy it in the right way and look after yourself and look after everyone else, that's the main thing. Everyone's entitled to their opinions."
Haddin, who called it quits from One-Day International cricket after the World Cup final, came under scrutiny for his behavior in the match, and matters were exacerbated when Haddin told the Triple M radio station after Australia's celebrations that New Zealand deserved the send-offs for being "too nice".
"They were that nice to us in New Zealand and we were that uncomfortable," said Haddin. "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].' I'm not playing another one-day game, so they can suspend me for as long as they like."
Earlier during the same interview, Steven Smith described Haddin as the "drunkest man in the team" as the celebrations carried on into the wee hours on Monday.
The controversy continued to rage on, forcing Haddin to issue a clarification on Wednesday. "We were celebrating a World Cup win and enjoying ourselves after a long tournament. In hindsight, we should have stayed off the radio. If I offended anyone, it was never my intention," Haddin said in an interview to cricket.co.au.
Lehmann said the furore over Haddin's actions meant the Australian team didn't get the credit they deserved for clinically dismantling Brendon McCullum, which broke New Zealand's back.
"You like it when a plan comes together don't you, especially so early in the game and it sets the tone," said Lehmann. "It was interesting once that happened they went into their shells a bit New Zealand, which was surprising, so allowed us to control the game. James Faulkner... when they just looked like they were getting into the game he came through with that spell in the Power Play."
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