Melbourne: Australian captain Ricky Ponting has admitted that his team was facing the challenge of controlling their on-field behaviour in the wake of last few weeks incidents.

"Sometimes tempers can get a little bit out of line but the challenge for us now, as I have said to the guys over the last few weeks, is just to take a little step back and have a little think about your actions before you actually act," Ponting said.

"We are not too good, not too big for criticism. We will sit back and listen to it and a lot of the times actually cop it and go away and try and make ourselves better next time these sort of things happen," he was quoted as saying in the Australian media.

But he countered the claims that his team lacked sportsman spirit by saying "As far as sportsmanship on the field is concerned I think that is a little bit off the mark."

The Australian skipper said of late the sport had turned very professional and modern cricketers could not to be judged by the standards of the 1950s.

"I think one thing that a lot of people overlook is that we are not playing cricket in the 1950s and a lot of people I think are still living in the 1950s," he said.

Source : PTI