The Hamilton crowd let the Australian team know their feelings as the Chappell-Hadlee series wrapped up there.

Australian great Steve Waugh has warned the current team not to be goaded by New Zealand crowds during the test series, describing them as " the hardest in the world".

The Aussies look set for a roasting by the Basin Reserve faithful after their outcries over the Mitchell Marsh dismissal in the final one-dayer in Hamilton on Monday night.

The first test starts in Wellington on Friday and Waugh made it clear that Steve Smith's side needed to maintain their focus on the game and not the crowd distractions if they are to beat the Black Caps.

"I would say New Zealand crowds are the hardest to play in the world," Waugh, who enjoyed just four test wins from 10 matches in New Zealand between 1986-2000, told the Adelaide Advertiser.

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"They are very personal and if you get goaded into responding you can get distracted. You tread a fine line."

Former Australian batsman Michael Slater voiced similar sentiments about New Zealand crowds earlier in the week.

The second test is played in Christchurch.

Waugh said this series would be a better gauge for the Australian team after their lop-sided series against the West Indies earlier in the summer.

And he certainly didn't expect Australia to have things their own way.

"I don't think the test series win against the West Indies gave us a real sense of where we are at," Waugh told The Advertiser.

"This will be a more realistic view. We can expect some ups and downs from a team in transition."

Waugh, a former captain, also had some words of encouragement for current skipper Smith who is going through a lean spell with the bat in New Zealand, having failed to fire in the Twenty20s and ODIs.

"He has deficiencies but the great thing about Steve is that when people write him off he scores runs.

"He goes about his business in a quiet, confident manner which people gravitate to. The best leaders don't act, they just do. That's the type of leader he is."