Shane Warne, who had been caught in a sledging row during a weekend county game in England, said that he went after Sussex batsman Matt Prior only because he "chested" teammate Simon Katich, when the two collided mid-pitch.
"I wanted to try to get under Prior's skin because of the way he chested Katich on the field," Warne told London's The Times newspaper.
Sussex captain Chris Adams had strongly condemned his Hampshire counterpart, Warne's behaviour during the Frizzell County Championship at Hove, adding that he had lost all respect for the leg-spinner because of the incidence. Adams said that Prior had received "quite a bit of verbal abuse" from the Australian duo.
"I thought cricket was a non-contact sport. I was sticking up for my mate and letting Prior know what I thought about his behaviour. I think Adams needs to put his own house in order before he goes complaining to the newspapers," Warne added.
Ricky Ponting, on Thursday, also came out in support of Warne over the incident. He said he would call Warne to find out what exactly happened and pointed out that his teammate would be closely scrutinised more than the other players only because he's the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket.
"Unfortunately for Shane he's always going to be in the media spotlight, there's nowhere for him to hide for that, and quite often a lot of the things that he's involved in are highlighted and bigger issues are made of them," Ponting said.
Australia has always been infamous for their on-field behaviour, but Ponting said his side had consciously tried to improve since the establishment of the Spirit of Cricket code by Cricket Australia in 2003.
"I think certainly in the public's eyes, but more importantly I think everyone who you speak to involved in the game have been really impressed with what we've been able to do to our on-field attitudes," Ponting said at a Cricket Australia media call.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said he was concerned about Adams' allegations as a captain-against-captain complaint, but indicated he would take no action against Warne, who was "well-versed" in the players' code.
