Australian cricketers still irked

Australian players are annoyed with Cricket Australia (CA) for reprimanding Matthew Hayden for his comments on Harbhajan Singh as they feel their board has not backed the team during the escalating tensions with India this summer, according to a media report in Melbourne on Thursday.

"They (players) are annoyed that CA continues to kowtow to a constantly threatening and whining Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) despite India maintaining its reputation as the worst behaved team in the world," according to a report in The Australian.

Frustrated Australian players are already angry at what they believe has been a lack of support for Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting, in particular, when CA moved to downgrade a racial abuse charge against Harbhajan last month, the report added.

Symonds made his feelings clear during an interview during Tuesday night's Allan Border Medal dinner.

"It's something you wouldn't wish on anyone," Symonds said of the racial abuse controversy in which Harbhajan was suspended but the penalty was reduced to a fine after an appeal," Symonds said.

"We were made to look a bit silly really. Hayden, (Adam) Gilchrist, (Ricky) Ponting, (Michael) Clarke and Symonds wouldn't go into a hearing of that nature if something serious hadn't have happened.

"I just wondered if people doubted the truth aspect of it," he added.

CA charged and reprimanded Hayden Wednesday for calling Harbhajan an "obnoxious little weed".

"Australian cricketers are also becoming increasingly anxious that CA will go ahead with the Pakistan tour in a month despite making it clear weeks ago that they will not visit the strife-torn country," the report said.