Ponting backs his bowlers on banter

Despite stern cautioning from the ICC regarding sledging, Ricky Ponting, Australia's captain, has openly supported Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath continuing their verbal tirade against South Africa as the first Test gets underway at Perth on Friday.

Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, had earlier this week stated that the ICC was determined to keep the game's image clean and not let it fall to the level of a "hooligan's sport". "We don't want cricket being reduced to a level where it turns into a hooligans' sport and the spirit of the game is eroded," Mani had said. "We can't have a situation like we see in football (soccer)." The ICC is concerned by the fact that since November, eight players and officials have been found guilty of code of conduct breaches - twice the number when compared to this same period last year. So far this year 38 players and officials have been charged with offences, and Mani's comments come a day after a blunt warning issued by Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, about the growing number of code of conduct violations.

Responding to Mani's claims, Ponting has defended his ace bowlers, maintaining that verbal banter was a part of Australia's motivation leading into a series of this magnitude. "The main culprits this time have been the ones who do it every series, Warney and McGrath," Ponting told The Australian. "That's why I don't think it's too much different than normal. Those guys actually like the challenge of making some statements and then getting out there and backing them up. That's the way they've played their best cricket over the last 10 years. "

While accepting that the ICC was tolerable of verbal exchanges between players in tense and competitive matches, Mani was adamant that it would not tolerate any degrading comments that fell outside the boundary of sport. Ponting, however, maintained that this would not be the case in the series against South Africa. "As long as we're being sensible about what we're doing and staying on our side of the line in the sand I'm happy with that," he said. "Glenn and Shane like to challenge themselves as much as they can and they seem to lift when those bigger occasions and one-on-one battles come around."

He does remain fairly surprised by the ICC singling out this series as a potentially volatile scenario. "There's no reason at the moment for me to have to address the players and let them know to take it easy. It's just a bit of banter between the players...there's nothing untoward as far as I'm concerned at the moment," Ponting said. "I'm sure the cricket's going to be played in a hard and fair manner. It usually is when Australia and South Africa get out on the field of play. All the players are very aware of the spirit of cricket on the field and off the field."

He did, though, take the opportunity to mention the role that Warne will play in the tense encounters that will pepper the three-Test series. "Warney's record against South Africa (101 wickets at 22) would be outstanding so that's probably why he's come out and said what he has," he said. "It's just another thing they (South Africa) are going to have in the back of their minds now and Warney will just go out there and play cricket."