AM news presenter Nicky Styris has no sympathy for former South African cricket captain Faf du Plessis, who is still nursing hurt feelings from the Blackcaps sledging he received at the 2011 World Cup.
In his autobiography Faf: Through The Fire, the Proteas great has revealed his intense dislike for Kiwis in general, after a heated confrontation with the NZ fielders during the tournament quarter-finals at Dhaka.
Allrounder Scott Styris - Nicky's husband - was to the forefront of the exchange, which du Plessis likened to being in a "bar fight". Others implicated included then-captain Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and 12th man Kyle Mills.
"For a while, I bore extreme feelings of resentment towards New Zealanders," he wrote. "All of them.
"I grew up thinking the Aussies were the gutter kings of sledging, but then I discovered the dark place the Kiwis are dragging you into."
Nicky Styris scoffs at the claims.
"I can tell you, Faf, that I have listened to the late Shane Warne sledging my husband in England," she told AM. "That was nothing on what Warne could deliver - the Aussies are notorious sledgers.
"That's just part of the game of cricket. It would just be stuff like... 'you're a garbage batsman, you've always been rubbish'.
"I'm using polite words here."
Asked if she receives the same treatment in the kitchen at home, Styris insisted: "If you think sledging from Scott on the field is bad, try being married to him.
"It takes a strong old duck to hang in there in this marriage."
Ironically, the International Cricket Council had recognised New Zealand's fine sportsmanship through its 'Spirit of Cricket' award for 2009 and 2010. McCullum would later earn that honour as an individual in 2015.
The Blackcaps have just begun a two-match test series against South African at Mt Maunganui's Bay Oval.
