"In politics, we are shall we say less than civil to one another so I'm very cautious about preaching from glass houses here," Rudd said

"But I think the nation would expect of us in the political sphere to be more civil towards one another in the future. With the history of the game of cricket, I think people would like a bit more civility as well," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.

Rudd was reacting to captain Ricky Ponting's reply to Australian governor-general Michael Jeffery that unlike 1950s cricket was not mere a sport but had turned fully professional and players tend to lose tempers under pressure.

Jeffery had called for a return to "fundamental courtesies and good manners" in the game.

"I think the governor-general's perfectly entitled to express his point of view and on the question of civility in the game, I think that all your listeners would like there to be greater civility in the game generally.