Seemingly endless column centimetres and electronic media time has been devoted in the past week or so to the personal dramas confronting Australian cricket vice-captain, Michael Clarke and his now-ex fiancee, Lara Bingle.

Columnists and commentators – both sporting and social – had their say and pronounced their thoughts on how the drama would unfold.

In the end, the matter was settled in a public sense by the issuing of a short statement from Clarke’s management company that pronounced that the pair’s engagement had been called off and the glamour couple was going separate ways.

The media statement ended as most do in these circumstances by asking that the pair’s privacy be respected.

Clarke is due to return to New Zealand in the next 48 hours in preparation for the opening Test in Wellington that starts on Friday.

Cricket Australia and his teammates will rightly do their best to shield him from the media in the short term as he no doubt struggles to acclimatise to his new personal circumstances.

Barring a substantial innings from the heir apparent to the national captaincy there will be no reason for him to face the media at all during the two-Test series.

And should he peel off a century against the Black Caps, the media will be put on notice as to what questions will be allowed before he takes a seat before the cameras and microphones.

In essence, there is perhaps only one thing that may trigger continued coverage of the saga and that will be governed by how the New Zealand team chooses to approach the matter on the field.

The two countries are cut very much from the same cloth and as a result the way they approach sporting contests against one another is along similar lines.

No quarter is asked for and generally none is given.

Two countries that formed an indelible bond in the trenches at Gallipoli abandon their shared commonality once they take to the sporting field.

Whether it be rugby, netball or cricket, the sporting rivalry between the Trans-Tasman rivals is always intense.

Testament to that is the fall-out from the altercation between Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris early in the one-day series when the Australian quick chose to head-butt the helmeted Kiwi batsman during a mid-pitch confrontation.

For the remainder of the series every move by Johnson on the field was met with a chorus of boos and jeers from the parochial fans.

Infamously in the early 1990s, a story did the rounds for several years that involved the alleged treatment meted out to New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns by the Australian slips cordon when he arrived at the crease for his first innings on a Test tour of Australia.

Cairns, who had recently lost his sister in a tragic train crash, was said to have been the target of “choo-choo” comments.

Rightly, the response of anyone who got wind of the story was one of disgust.

In his autobiography following his retirement, Steve Waugh flatly denied any such comments had ever been made.

But it was not until Cairns himself penned in his memoir that the story was indeed apocryphal that the innuendo was finally put to rest.

Australians and New Zealanders have never been backward in coming forward when the opportunity has existed to sledge each other on the field.

The Tests to be played over the next fortnight will no doubt feature plenty of pointed barbs aimed at unsettling the opponent.

The ultimate test will be whether anyone is willing to play the personal card with regard to Clarke and his off-field tribulations.

One would hope that the line is not crossed and that such a tactic is not employed but in the heat of battle decisions that are later regretted are often made.

Kiwi skipper, Daniel Vettori is regarded in cricket circles as one of the game’s senior statesman and it would not surprise if he has already issued an edict to his charges.

Clarke’s demeanour at the crease will be closely scrutinised in the next two weeks.

Here’s hoping that we don’t see a repeat of the 2003 incident in the Caribbean between Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan in which the former believed he had heard a comment that related to his wife who was battling cancer at the time.

On that occasion, it turned out that McGrath had in fact misinterpreted what had been said.

But the event indicates what can ensue when a fragile mind is in a pressure situation.

Let’s hope it’s the cricket that captures the headlines during this Trans-Tasman Trophy encounter for in recent times the deeds in the middle have played second fiddle to events off it.