Australians' behaviour questioned

 Australians have acclaimed their cricket team’s epic series win over South Africa, but not the manner in which they achieved it.

Michael Clarke’s team on Wednesday clinched a 2-1 series win over the world’s number one-ranked Test side just months after thrashing England 5-0 in their home Ashes series.
But just as Australia dominated the South Africans with their aggressive brand of cricket under coach Darren Lehmann, the team was rebuked by sections of the media on Friday over their on-field behaviour during the final Cape Town Test.

“Darren Lehmann has guided the Australian cricket side to the top of the world. His next challenge is to control it,” News Ltd cricket columnist Robert Craddock said.

“Australian fans like to see their side play tough cricket but social media in Australia yesterday had strong feedback from fans wanting their side to behave better.

“The sight of Michael Clarke angrily confronting umpires and Australian fieldsmen barking like dogs at batsmen left a lot of people cold and alienated from the team and its success.”

Some Australian cricketers were pictured howling following the dismissal of South African batsman Faf du Plessis, in reaction to Du Plessis’s comments likening them to “a pack of dogs” in the field.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the barking dogs incident might have been childish, but he saw it as funny.

“That’s just typical childish cricketers, but he (Du Plessis) asked for that with his comments a few days earlier,” Sutherland said in a radio interview.