Aussie cricketers defiant over behaviour

Australian cricketers put on notice

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Ricky Ponting's'S contrition about the behaviour of the Australian cricket team during the last Test has been contrasted by declarations from two of his players that the team will be deliberately aggressive during the Boxing Day Test.

As Shane Watson claimed his controversial send-off of Chris Gayle was provoked by taunts from the West Indies captain, fast bowler Peter Siddle said the team would not act like a ''little goody two-shoes'' in the series against Pakistan.

''Any serious first-class cricketer does have a lot of aggression out on the field. I think it's just sometimes you've got to control it, that line you can sometimes go over, we're always bordering on it. A few blokes might have gone over it but it's hard to tell,'' Siddle said before flying to Sydney for one-day match between Victoria and NSW, when he hopes to prove his hamstring injury has healed.

''People get on our backs a bit about it but it is something we fight hard for. It's a tough game out there, and that's how we play it. We play it hard. Sometimes we just go a little bit too far, but it's just part of the game.''

While Ponting said he would speak to the whole team about its behaviour before the match, Siddle said aggression had been a trait of successful Australian teams.

''I don't think we'll be a little goody two-shoes in the next Test. I don't think that's how Australian teams have ever played. If you look back to when [Allan] Border was captain or Steve Waugh, [their] teams were never the nice boys. We always tried hard, fought hard, and it was always a tough contest to play against Australia.''

Watson similarly predicted the team would ''definitely not'' be more subdued against Pakistan compared with the West Indies series.

''We understand as a group where the line is, and of course we don't want to be in the situation where we are after this Test [of getting negative publicity despite] playing so well in Perth,'' he said.

All-rounder Watson was fined 15 percent of his match fee for his aggressive celebration of Gayle's wicket in the second innings. The Australian acknowledged yesterday that that celebration was ''a little bit over the top'' but insisted he was not ashamed by it because of the verbal stoush with Gayle that preceded it.

''He [Gayle] is obviously one of the most devastating batsmen in the world at the moment, and he definitely let me know that he was keen for me to come on to bowl, so it was very nice to be able to get him out first ball. That was the catalyst for me celebrating the way I did,'' Watson said.

''I'm not embarrassed. I know I looked at the footage after it, obviously just from seeing the footage it doesn't look ideal, but also people probably don't understand the full story. That's the reason why it's nice to be able to say the [other] part of the story, so people might understand the reason why I celebrated the way I did.''

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland yesterday said the players should be given credit for their record of good behaviour during a period when they have been ''under the pump'' in intense series against India, South Africa and England.

The Australian and Pakistani squads will train today at the MCG. Much of the focus will be on whether the left-elbow injury Ponting suffered in the Perth Test would end his run of 60 consecutive Tests for Australia.

The decision on Ponting playing is not expected to be made until the captain attempts to bat tomorrow.

- © Fairfax NZ News