Jayawardene plays Australia a straight bat

DUBAI // Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, has defended Australia against claims they are international cricket's worst behaved team. Sri Lanka will be up against New Zealand, Bangladesh and the West Indies when the International Cricket Council's (ICC) give out their annual "Spirit of Cricket" award at the Westin Hotel in Dubai tonight.

Australia, who hold every major trophy in cricket at present, are conspicuous by their absence from the list of nominees for that particular award. Back in March, the ICC moved to outlaw sledging in the wake of India's fractious tour of Australia. During that series, the home captain Ricky Ponting suffered intense criticism over his side's poor conduct, and nearly lost his job because of it. Now the ICC are demanding that umpires clamp down on "obscene, offensive or insulting" verbal abuse. The Australians are often accused of being the main perpetrators of sledging. The term itself originated in the country, as a shortened form of the phrase "as subtle as a sledge-hammer".

However, Jayawardene admits there are few angels left in the game at the top level, and feels Australia are unjustly pilloried. "We have a different level of sledging," reasoned the batsman, 31, who could also lift the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards at tonight's ceremony. "It is difficult to say the Aussies are the only team that sledge. A lot of teams have banter which goes on on the field. It is mostly designed to get under the skin of the opposition when you are on the field.

"That has been a part of the game for quite some time, and as long as you don't cross that line and make sure you play within the spirit, I think everyone is happy with that." pradley@thenational.ae