Mitchell Starc Fined For Throwing Ball At Mark Craig

Australian paceman Mitchell Starc has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for intentionally throwing the ball towards Black Cap Mark Craig on the final day of the first test.

Starc conceded four overthrows when he threw the ball at Craig out of frustration as the New Zealander was delaying the inevitable defeat with his innings of 26.

Speaking after the match, Australian captain Steve Smith was left annoyed by Starc's actions.

"I thought it was pretty disappointing. I think he's done it a few times and I'm going to have a word with him when we get back down in the shed so I don't think it was necessary at the time."

The Black Caps are standing up for Mark Craig despite having little impact on Australia.

Craig finished the match with overall figures of three for 234, picking up all his wickets in the second innings.

New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum said Craig has proven he can bounce back.

"We've seen in the past as well that he gets better as tours go on," McCullum said.

"I don't think it's fair to judge him on the first innings bowling, there aren't too many spinners that can come to the Gabba and bowl the first day of the test match and be overly successful."

Meanwhile Key Black Caps paceman Tim Southee will be given every chance to prove his fitness for this week's second test against Australia in Perth.

Southee irritated a disc in his back in the heavy first test defeat in Brisbane and Neil Wagner has joined the squad as cover.

But New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is confident Southee may be able to play.

"He started to come right pretty quickly which is a good sign. [They] have a bit of an understanding of some back injuries at times as well. They can recover pretty quickly too."

The second test starts in Perth on Friday.

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