Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland says Ricky Ponting's team must continue to lift its behaviour in accordance with rising ICC standards in order to live up to the Spirit of Cricket pact..jpg)
While expressing concern at the number of Australian players landing in trouble with match referees - Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath have all been in hot water - Sutherland said the offences were 'relatively minor'.
"In a broader sense, that (the reports) is concerning," Sutherland told the Herald Sun.
"I am not in any way condoning that behaviour, but they are level one."
Sutherland said the team's behaviour was discussed at the Queensland training camp but was confident Ponting's men were doing their best to stay out of trouble.
"I know it's something the players have talked about in recent times, even at the camp to address areas of concern, areas of susceptibility," he said.
"I am sure they are making conscious efforts to keep the slate clean and play the game in the right spirit.
"My strong feeling is that the bar has actually been raised a little bit by the ICC over the last 12 months, 18 months. Mentally we need to continue to keep up with that."
