AUSTRALIA'S world champion cricketers were left fuming at another hostile New Zealand crowd last night as they thumped the Black Caps in the opening match of the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series.
Australia won by 147 runs, dismissing the Black Caps for 105, with the pace of Brett Lee (3-5 off six overs) too much to handle.
But it was the unruly crowd behaviour which dominated post-match discussion.
In an incident-marred day at Eden Park, the game was halted four times - in the 12th, 19th, 22nd and 24th overs of the Kiwi innings - as things threatened to get out of hand. The first three incidents involved crowd invasions and a streaker.
But more concerning was the final disturbance when Lee stopped play after he had an apple thrown at him while fielding in front of the old terraces at third man.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said crowd behaviour needed to be addressed.
"There was a lot of stuff thrown on to the ground tonight which was probably the only disappointing thing for the whole evening," he said.
"It just ruins the game of cricket. Luckily Brett said he was missed by quite a few pieces. I swapped Brett and put (Brad Hogg) down there and that didn't end up much better. We are probably a little bit lucky someone didn't end up getting hit.
"But, as we said, it happens all around the world."
After consulting with Ponting and umpires Aleem Dar and Tony Hill, Lee was moved to cover, with Brad Hogg heading to the boundary. Plastic bottles, lemons and oranges had earlier been aimed at the blond quick.
"I am a pretty big fan of fruit but not past the old head," Lee said. "You don't really appreciate 10 or so pieces of fruit being thrown at your head.
"I don't mind being sledged or anything. A bit of fun with the crowd is part of it, it happens in every stadium, it happens in Australia. Apples being thrown at your head is something we don't want to happen in cricket."
Ponting had earlier expressed his concerns to Hill after the initial pitch invasion. Extra security was then added in front of the terrace between Lee and a rowdy crowd.
Several spectators from the terraces had been escorted out by police during the day for what appeared to be drunken behaviour. New Zealand Cricket Association marketing manager Peter Dwan said action would be taken.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori also condemned the behaviour of the crowd.
Game two of this three-match series will be held in Wellington on Wednesday, a venue that Ponting described as "probably the worst" in terms of crowd behaviour when his team visited earlier this year.
The crowd disturbance came after Lee scuttled a frazzled and jittery New Zealand top order, conceding just one scoring shot in his six-over spell.
Fellow quicks Nathan Bracken (2-40) and Stuart Clark (3-19) also shone and proved there was plenty of bite in Australia's new-look attack.
Ponting praised his bowlers and the team's overall fielding, which has improved markedly since the Ashes loss.
He clearly enjoyed turning to the crowd in the terrace while celebrating his superb one-handed catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Vettori.
- JON PIERIK