Five key points from the first Test

The new era of Aussie cricket was ushered in with an almighty bang as Australia thrashed New Zealand by 208 runs at the Gabba in the first of three trans-Tasman Tests.

Here are the biggest talking points to come from the impressive victory:

Smith's new brigade shines bright

Steve Smith as captain, David Warner his deputy, Joe Burns opening, and Usman Khawaja at first drop all starred in their new roles.

While he didn’t play as big a role with the bat as Warner, Burns and Khawaja, Smith pulled all the right strings as skipper. In his first official Test as captain, the 26-year-old made all the correct calls, including batting at No.4, resisting the urge to make the Black Caps follow on, and rotating his bowlers perfectly.

Man-of-the match Warner was simply superb. His back-to-back centuries (163 and 116) put him in esteemed company, joining Ricky Ponting and Sunil Gavaskar as the only men in Test cricket history to score a century in both innings of a match three times.

And his opening partner wasn’t far behind. Burns staked his claim to open with Warner for many years to come by notching his maiden Test century (129) after scoring 71 in the first innings. He will undoubtedly go down in Gabba folklore after smashing two sixes off Mark Craig to go from 88 to triple figures in the space of three balls.

And what a return to Test cricket for Khawaja! After two years in the wilderness, the recalled batsman repaid the selectors’ faith with a masterful first innings knock of 174. With the Aussies searching for a long-term solution at No.3, they need look no further than the classy left-hander.

Starc oversteps the mark

Amid the elation of a dominant bowling effort on day five in which the Aussies picked up the remaining seven wickets before the lunch break, Mitchell Starc brought the mood down when he fired the ball back at Craig after the Kiwi tail ender played a straight drive.

The off-spinner was standing well away from the stumps when he was forced to dodge Starc’s errant throw, which subsequently evaded wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and ended up at the boundary.

Starc appeared to let his anger get the better of him during a frustrating final wicket partnership between Craig and Trent Boult that yielded 46 runs.

After the tragic death of Phillip Hughes this time last year, there is no place in the game for Starc’s actions, with match referee Roshan Mahanama punishing the paceman for throwing the ball in a dangerous manner near Craig.

The left-arm speedster was fined $7725 and cautioned by his captain in the aftermath.

"I don't think it was necessary...there wasn't an opportunity for a run-out there", Smith said.

Starc has been criticised in the past for his lack of aggression, but his efforts would be better channeled towards dismissing the batsman in a more conventional manner.

Umpire or McCullum to blame for howler?

New Zealand’s only hope of staving off defeat on the final day rested in the hands of Brendon McCullum, and the swashbuckling skipper gave the tourists a glimmer of hope when he neared triple figures.

But on 80, McCullum was the victim of a dubious umpiring decision when Englishman Nigel Llong gave him out caught at second slip, believing he had inside edged the ball onto his pad before Smith claimed the catch.

Replays showed there was no bat involved, but with both referrals exhausted, McCullum was left with no option but to go.

Blame could easily be laid at the feet of umpire Llong, but it was the Kiwi captain who encouraged keeper BJ Watling to use their final challenge on a pretty adjacent LBW decision earlier in the morning session. Replays showed the ball crashing into leg stump and New Zealand’s final referral was wasted.

McCullum only needed to survive another few overs before his side’s referrals would have been renewed, but when Llong’s finger went up and the skipper was fired out, he couldn’t really blame anyone but himself.

Williamson’s golden run continues

Black Caps No.3 Kane Williamson has gone from relative unknown to one of the best batsmen in world cricket after an incredible 12 months, and he continued on his red-hot ways at the Gabba.

The 25-year-old was by far and away the best-performing Kiwi batsman with knocks of 140 and 59 in an otherwise disappointing display from the tourists.

He can now lay claim to being the world's best batsman after amassing 2860 runs this calendar year across all formats at an average of 62.17.

Statistics show the youngster has actually outperformed the great Sir Donald Bradman at this stage of his career, amassing more Test runs at than The Don did at age 25.

He has now reached triple figures against eight out of 10 Test playing nations, and his 140 in the first innings was the highest Gabba score by a Kiwi since Martin Crowe's majestic 188 30 years ago.

Johnson joins elite company

Largely lost in the excitement of the performances of Warner, Burns and Khawaja, was Mitchell Johnson’s 310th Test wicket.

With four wickets in the match, the left-armer joined Brett Lee in equal-fourth on Australia's all-time list.

Johnson was back to his fiery best at the Gabba after revealing he nearly called it quits after the disappointment of relinquishing the Ashes earlier this year.