"The intensity of the debate, and the situation where the Australians are being criticised by their own, is probably the greatest surprise," Fleming was quoted as saying by NZPA.

"They play hard over there -- they do create pressure on the umpires by playing hard, constant cricket," he added.

Ponting has come in for scathing criticism for his team's abrasive behaviour during their record-equalling 16th straight Test win in Sydney after a string of umpiring howlers robbed India of a chance to draw the game.

The Australian skipper's racial abuse complaint against Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh added fuel to the fire and Fleming said the matter, which looked a bit "schoolboyish" initially, became a mess because of lack of independent evidence.

"The Harbhajan aspect is interesting. It sounds like there is a case there to be answered, it's the player's word against another - without the match officials it's very messy," he said.

"It does look a little bit schoolboyish, though the racial issue does cause concern for a lot of players. There's been a big push to stamp it out," he added. Fleming said the Australians are known to play hard and put pressure on umpires with aggressive appealing and it was important to retain some of that fire in the game or else it would become dull.

"How do you deem pressure? Is it excessive appealing? Is it appealing ball after ball if it hits the pads ... is it having 10 fielders around the bat?" he asked.

"If we keep diluting it the game can become a bit boring. To have a bit of controversy when you're not involved is not a bad thing," he said.

However, another set of former New Zealand players lambasted the Australians and said the world champions acted like cry-babies by reporting Harbhajan.

John Morrison, Dipak Patel and Simon Doull said they were amazed by the double standards of their trans-Tasmanian neighbours.

Morrison, who played for New Zealand in the 1970s and 80s, said, "They've basically run off to tell the teacher on Harbhajan Singh."

"If the Aussies have any conscience at all, surely they'd be ashamed over this because it's just gutless, it's churlish, it's childish - the sort of thing you'd see in a playground," he was quoted as saying by the Dominican Post.

"A lot of good cricket people around the world will not like what's happened here," he added.

Patel felt the Australians were themselves so foul-mouthed that they had no moral right to complain about others.

"I'm not saying that he (Harbhajan) is not guilty but there's been a lot worse said by Australians in the past to other opposition," Patel said.

"What happens on the park should stay on the park. I've been called a lot worse than a monkey, to be honest with you, and it's just something that you accept and it's left on the field," Patel opined.

Doull, a former fast bowler, felt the case against Harbhajan hardly stands in the absence of any independent evidence.

"From my point of view the match referee is there to do a job. If the umpires or the match referee haven't seen it or heard it, there's no case at all to answer," he said.

"Did Michael Clarke go in front of the committee when the ball bounced in front of him and he claimed a catch? Did Ponting go in front of a committee for nicking one down legside and not walking and then showing dissent when he nicks one on to his pads and gets given out lbw?" he asked.

"It would appear that there's double standards at the moment," he pointed out.

Former great Martin Crowe, meanwhile, was worried about the game's future. Without commenting on the ongoing furore, Crowe said, "I worry about the game full stop and you have to go to the core problem. The game is not run by anyone in particular, it's run by all sorts of people doing their own thing. The ICC needs some governance and they need to be given it very, very quickly otherwise it will splinter off."