Matt Henry has defended fellow Black Cap Daryl Mitchell after his reaction to yesterday's Test match loss to Australia annoyed some former players.
Daryl Mitchell spoke to SENZ Radio after the loss and said there was more to cricket than winning and losing.
The remarks saw an angry response from Jeremy Coney, who said "give me a break ... winning is actually the key to it all".
"We kind of get what he's meaning, but actually young kids will follow the New Zealand side when they win."
Ian Smith said he needed to "take two or three deep breaths" before responding.
Henry, who took nine wickets in the second Test defeat, backed Mitchell, who said the team wasn't defined by the outcome of matches.
“We know what Daryl was trying to say, it's never easy facing the media straight after a loss like that,” Henry told 1News.
“You look at Daryl and how well he's done, he's one of the most competitive guys I know and has put our team in so many winning situations over the years.
“As a group, we're playing a Test match trying to make our country proud and play the best cricket we possibly can… unfortunately we had a partnership yesterday we couldn't quite break.”
The partnership between Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey shifted the momentum of the Test in the Australians favour on day four and helped guide them to victory.
Henry was named player of the series, picking up 17 wickets across the two Tests.
He wanted to reflect on the positives from the Test matches including the impressive bowling performances of young fast bowlers Ben Sears and Will O’Rourke.
O’Rourke was ruled out of the second Test due to a hamstring strain he picked up in the first Test which gave Wellington-born Sears the opportunity to make his Test debut.
Sears managed to bag the wicket of the dangerous Steve Smith as his first wicket in Test cricket.
Henry also was pleased with Tim Southee’s captaincy throughout the Test series.
“Tim’s captaincy is brilliant… the way he sees the game and the confidence he gives you as a player is second to none,” said Henry.
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