Brett Lee said that Australia have to be careful not to cross the line while dealing with the umpires © Getty Images Enlarge

Brett Lee has joined Glenn McGrath in saying that the Australian cricketers have to be careful in their treatment of umpires, while adding that they appealed only when they believed an opponent was out.

"There's a line you can't step over and we've got to make sure that we don't do that," Lee told AFP. "We've got to get to know the umpires a lot better and realise too that the umpires have only got 0.3 of a second to make up their minds, so it's a very tough job.

"We've got the aids here, cricketers and journalists, and people watching on TV at home have got the super slo-mo replays and we can say: 'That's definitely going to hit leg stump' or 'He's definitely nicked that', whereas a bowler or an umpire and maybe a batsman, in the heat of the moment, have only got a split-second to work out what's going on. Sometimes you want to know why that was possibly not out or why you've been given out and you've just got to learn to deal with it, accept the decision and get on with it."

Lee's statement came a day after McGrath urged his team-mates to behave themselves after the ICC issued a warning to Australia. Lee was reprimanded for dissent and McGrath was charged with using obscene language during the third Test against South Africa at Sydney. Adam Gilchrist was also reported for dissent when a run-out was not referred to the third umpire in Australia's five-wicket defeat against South Africa at the Gabba on Sunday.