South Africa top ICC's bad-boy list

Close on the heels of reports of flare-ups and sledging in the series between South Africa and New Zealand comes the news that the South Africans are the most badly behaved team in world cricket. According to a report by AFP, figures released by the ICC for the 23-month period since April 1, 2002 - when the new code of conduct was introduced - reveal that six charges were laid against South African players, of which five ended in guilty verdicts. At the other end of the spectrum was West Indies, with no charges during this period.

Of the six incidents involving the South Africans, five took place during their tour to Pakistan in October 2003. In fact, Andrew Hall was banned for one ODI and two Tests after being twice found guilty of offences during an ODI at Lahore. That series was also the worst in terms of discipline, with seven charges levelled against the players.

The ICC also brought out figures to indicate that the overall behaviour had improved since the introduction of the new code of conduct - there were only 31 reports of inappropriate behaviour during that period, compared to 52 in the two years prior to that.

Sunil Gavaskar, chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee - Playing, expressed his satisfaction with the improved on-field behaviour: "Prior to the new code, I was one of many people in the game who were concerned about this issue, but over the past two years I think that the introduction of this code and the greater awareness of the issue amongst the players has resulted in considerable improvement in this area. The code reflects the reality that players have a responsibility to not just their teams, but to all those youngsters watching the game. This trend is a strong indication of the improvement that has taken place."

In a statement, the ICC also said that the figures showed a better appeal system: of the 31 charges, players had been acquitted four times. In the earlier two years, the players had been found guilty on all 52 occasions.

Meanwhile, Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, also praised the decision of the Australian team to sign their own players' code of conduct. "I think that the initiative shown by the Australian team last year in publicly committing to this ideal is indicative of the desire of the players to play the game in the right spirit, and this is borne out in fewer reports."