Glenn Phillips lifts the lid on Aussies' sledging

The Black Caps third test against Australia brought up many firsts for batsman Glenn Phillips. It was his first test match; he scored his first test 50 for and got his first taste of Australian sledging.

The Australian national team is often chatty in the field, with those around the batsman looking for ways to put him off his game, be it a humourous exchange or insulting. But when it came to sledging Phillips, there wasn't a lot of direct sledging that could be done.

"Other than looking like Smudge [Australian batsman Steve Smith], I don't think they had a hell of a lot on me considering they haven't seen me too much," he said.

"So a lot of the chat was just between them and the men around the lid. They talk a lot of smack, but it's not anything directed at me – it's more just noise.

"A lot of it is actually quite entertaining and quite funny. It's good to be out there amongst that sort of fighting environment and to be able to experience how those boys go about things."

He wasn't the only Black Caps player to get an earful during the tour, with Australian bowler Mitchell Starc doing his best to get under Jeet Raval's skin in the first test in Perth – which Australia won by 296 runs.

Raval, who has been going through a horror run of form which has seen him fail to pass 33 in first-class cricket since February, had mustered just one run from 18 balls when Starc chimed in with some harsh words.

"Wouldn't wanna ruin it — the last chance of your career," Starc taunted him.

"Christmas is pretty good when you have it off though," Starc added, referring to the next test between the two teams - the Boxing Day test in Melbourne. "They do good lunches for Christmas in Melbourne."

Three balls later, and Starc's words proved prescient, as he produced a superb delivery which spooned off the shoulder of Raval's bat to Nathan Lyon at point.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission