Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has bluntly told his country's cricketers to exhibit more civility on the field.
Rudd said cricket is a gentleman's game and people would expect a bit more civility from the players.
"In politics, we are, shall we say, less than civil to one another so I'm very cautious about preaching from glass houses here," Rudd said.
"But I think the nation would expect of us in the political sphere to be more civil towards one another in the future. With the history of the game of cricket, I think people would like a bit more civility as well," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.
Rudd was reacting to captain Ricky Ponting's reply to Australian governor-general Michael Jeffery that unlike 1950s cricket is not merely a sport but has turned fully professional and players tend to lose tempers under pressure.
Jeffery called for a return to "fundamental courtesies and good manners" in the game as the Australian team came under attack for its on-field behaviour during the Test series against India.
"I think the governor-general's perfectly entitled to express his point of view and on the question of civility in the game, I think that all your listeners would like there to be greater civility in the game generally.
"It's a tough and competitive business (but) you can conduct it with a bit of civility," he added.
