Glenn McGrath has urged his team-mates to behave themselves after the ICC issued a warning to Australia to show more restraint in their on-field dealings with match officials.
"I think at the end of the day it is up to the captain [to talk to umpires] and it should be left that way, and we just need to pull our heads in a little bit," McGrath told 2KY, a Sydney radio station.
McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee have all been called up for dissent in the past fortnight. Gilchrist's charge was for complaining when a run-out was not referred to the third umpire in Sunday's five-wicket loss to South Africa at the Gabba. McGrath was charged with obscene language and Lee was reprimanded for dissent during the third Test against South Africa in Sydney at the start of the year.
Calling on his team-mates to curb their emotions on the field, McGrath also said that the umpires should be approachable. "If the umpire said in my opinion that wasn't out, then you get on with it. I think at the end of the day the umpire still needs to be approachable and you still have got to be able to talk to him. It hasn't been a good year for us considering it is not even a month old, but you look at our track record over the last sort of 12-18 months, two years it has been exceptional. Hopefully it is one of those things that pass and we won't be seeing the match referee any more."
"What James Sutherland [CA chief executive] was quoted as saying during the Sydney Test still stands, I think that it is always disappointing when there is a report or more importantly a report that is upheld," said Peter Young, the Cricket Australia spokesman. "Our own players have set very high standards for themselves through the Spirit of Cricket pledge and as an organisation we have set ourselves a target of having zero breaches. So it is always disappointing when there is a bad day, the players take seriously the pledge they have made."