“We recognised from the outset that the umpiring in the second Test was below the very high standard we have come to expect from our Elite Panel and we noted with concern the enormous reaction to it and realised that we could potentially have a serious international diplomatic incident on our hands,” Mali said in a statement.

Mali said the abject umpiring standard in the Sydney Test threatened to trigger a possible diplomatic incident and removing Bucknor was a practical solution.”By standing Steve down for the third Test we have successfully defused the situation, at least for the time being, and so what was a sporting issue has not become a political crisis,” he said.

“We could easily have taken an inflexible stance and gone toe-to-toe with those who were calling for Steves withdrawal but instead we chose to adopt a more diplomatic and reasonable approach. And on balance it was the right thing to do, for the game and for the series,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia threw its weight behind Ponting and his team, saying sparks are bound to fly when the game is Test cricket and not “tiddlywinks”. ICC CEO Malcolm Speed was quoted by the Herald Sun as saying that CA needs to take notice of the criticism being directed at its team by the public, former players and commentators.

“The team is being criticised, members of the team are being criticised and they need to be aware of that — they need to respond to that,” Speed said. “All national teams should play cricket in the right spirit. We need to be clear what that means,” he said.

Speed also reiterated that he was relieved that the replacement of umpire Steve Bucknor prevented an international crisis. “We could have gone in banging the table and playing ‘who blinks first’, we could have turned what is already an international incident into an international crisis. What we have elected to do, and we have given some serious thought about this, is to take one of the issues out of play,” he said.

But Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, who appeared unperturbed by the barrage of criticism, said Ponting and his men might have mouthed a word or two in the heat of the moment but never overstepped the line. “Test cricket is what is being played here. It’s not tiddlywinks,” said Sutherland, maintaining Australia always played the game hard but fair.