Warner and Geeves warned over Twitter row

David Warner and Brett Geeves have been told they could face charges of bringing the game into disrepute if they repeat a very public Twitter quarrel in which Warner accused Geeves of racial vilification. The men have been reprimanded by Cricket Australia and apologised publicly, and to each other, for the ugly back-and-forth that came after the Big Bash preliminary final between New South Wales and Tasmania.

Geeves, the injured Tasmania fast bowler, began by tweeting: "Any young children that saw D Warners reaction after hitting Hilf for biggest 6 ever - take that as an example of humility gone wrong."

Warner replied with: "@brettygeevs don't know what kids would b following u but remember what u said to hughy that's right, lucky u were not playing, c***," and then a further message that said "@brettygeevs got to hate it when ur own squad don't like you bahahahaha".

Geeves came back with: "@davidwarner31 it's a z. I get the feeling my name isn't the only one you have trouble spelling."

Warner continued with: "@brettygeevz u want 2 talk humility u were lucky one player refused to follow up on your racial villification slur u made on the field."

A Cricket Australia spokesman said the incident in question had happened several years ago during an interstate match and had been addressed at the time by mediation. The Geeves and Warner incident again highlights the hazards of social media for players, which was in the news earlier this week when the New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder vented his frustration at a team-mate for running him out.