Australian players free to tweet

England's players might end up being stopped from using online social networks but Australia's cricketers are being encouraged to tweet, blog and use Facebook.

"You won't see us banning our players from doing that sort of stuff," Ricky Ponting said at the team's camp in Queensland. "It is your job as international players to promote the game and be the best you can for the game. If we can use social networks, if that brings people closer to the game, brings people through the gates to play, then that's what it is all about."

Cricket Australia hosted a conference this month in which it was told it needed to reach out to the younger generation. One of those changes is the split-innings format for domestic one-day games, but another is not being afraid of social media.

Almost 11,000 people 'like' Ricky Ponting's Facebook page, which he updates regularly, and Michael Clarke has almost 41,000 followers on Twitter. "The biggest thing we face as international players is ... everyone knows us with the helmet on but very few in Australia, or around the world, actually understand what we are like with the helmet off," Ponting said. "If there are ways to express yourself then feel free to do that. I am totally all for that, as long as it is done the right way and within reason."

Michael Brown, Cricket Australia's operations manager, said there would be no social networking bans placed on the players. "At this stage it's really important that we are about growing the game and embracing the future, and young people are a critical part of it," he said. "We want young people to be associated with the game." The coach Tim Nielsen has signed up to Twitter and even the team manager Steve Bernard is using it.

Phillip Hughes, whose tweet about his dropping scooped the official announcement by hours in Birmingham last year, hasn't used his site since he had lunch with Sachin Tendulkar last September.