Boycott squarely laid the blame on umpires for failing to report erring players which has compounded the problem and said time has come to crack down on the abuse.

“..they (Australian board) should keep a closer eye on their team all the time, and not just when there is a nasty scene that makes the news,” Boycott wrote in Daily Telegraph.

“The administrators must have known that their players were developing a reputation for abusive language. If they had sat them down and laid out an acceptable code of behaviour, and then warned them that anyone who crossed the line would be dropped, we would have seen an end to it all,” he said.

Boycott said the Australian team has behaved like “cry babies” in reporting Harbhajan Singh as they have been dishing out far more than that.

“Umpires have been far too lax on this sort of thing for too long. When a fast bowler finishes his follow-through, he’s only 10 yards away from the stumps: how can an umpire not hear what he’s saying to the batsman? The only reason they don’t take any action is because they prefer an easy life.

He said sledging should be nipped in the bud and the onus lies with the umpires to check it.

“In the past, sledging used to be humorous and colourful.