Out of 54,435 votes that were counted online on Sydney Morning Herald website, only 27 per cent responded with a 'no' to the question 'If it was right to sack Ponting for his role in the ‘Monkey Affair’.

The poll was in response to a column by Peter Roebuck, demanded Ponting's sacking.

It said, "if Cricket Australia cared a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players in the past few days. It was the ugliest performance by an Australian side for 20 years. The only surprising part of it is that the Indians have not already packed and gone home."

The Australian team had alleged that Harbhajan Singh called Andrew Symonds a 'monkey' which resulted in a three-Test ban slapped by ICC Match Referee Mile Procter.