Melbourne: After Ricky Ponting and his men created a furore here by wearing a sponsors cap instead of the traditional baggy green in a tour match, Cricket Australia today clarified that the team did so to maintain uniformity as stumper Brad Haddin was not yet a Test player, a pre-requisite to get a baggy green.

Ponting and his men sported blue caps with a sponsors mark on the first day of their tour match against Jamaica XI. The team was criticised for not wearing the baggy greens in the media here which claimed that the traditional cap was shunned at the sponsors behest.

However, CA clarified that the move was only aimed at respecting the baggy green's stature as a valued cap of the Test players.

"Brad Haddin, who has not yet been selected to play Test cricket for Australia, was ineligible to wear the baggy green cap, which is only presented to players on the morning of their Test debut," CA said in a statement here.

"In these circumstances it was decided that in the interests of team uniformity (and out of respect for the baggy green) all players would wear the same cap, the blue Cricket Australia training cap, which bears the sponsors mark," it added.

The Board said non-Test players have not been awarded a baggy green since 2001.

"Therefore, during the first day's play in the opening tour match of the West Indies tour all fielders took the field either wearing their blue cricket Australia training cap or a Cricket Australia white floppy brimmed hat."

CA said it respected the public outrage and would develop a fitted green felt cap for non-Test players that is different from the baggy green.

Source : PTI