Ponting admonishes McGrath and Lee

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, has admonished Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee for being reported on misconduct charges during the third Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

McGrath was officially reprimanded by Chris Broad, ICC match referee, for using obscene language and Lee was also officially reprimanded for showing dissent. Ponting said it was "not acceptable" to have the players appearing before a disciplinary hearing to defend their conduct. "It's obviously not ideal. It's not anything any of those guys or I as captain are proud of that's for sure," Ponting told AFP. "We have worked hard on it over the last couple of years and the guys really pride themselves on what they've done over the last couple of years."

Ponting said frustration was at the heart of the disciplinary breakdown amid widespread criticism of the performance of Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar, the match umpires. "Frustration is the big thing that comes into it. A lot of it is game-related and happens in the heat of battle on the field. A lot of the guys are quite tired at the moment as well. It's something we have to look at and talk about there's no doubt about that. As I've always said, it's not acceptable that we have guys up on report. You'd like to think that that won't happen again."

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, was also hauled up before the match referee but was found not guilty of making public criticism of the umpires at a press conference during the Test.