The juvenile slanging match between Australian all-rounder Shane Watson and West Indian captain Chris Gayle touched a new low yesterday with Gayle hitting back at Watson calling him "soft" and labelling the Australian team "a pack of whingers".

Gayle claimed Ricky Ponting's men were the masters of sledging but couldn't handle the heat when an opponent retaliated, a point of view with which our own Harbhajan Singh will surely agree.

"When they sledge and you give it back to them, they whinge a lot," Gayle said in Perth yesterday. "They can't handle it."

Following his unseemly outburst in the Perth Test for which he was fined 15 per cent of his match fee, Watson complained to the media that his over-the-top reaction after dismissing Gayle was the result of the batsman provoking him.

"He said I bait him. You asked me the question earlier if I catch fish, maybe I might use him as bait to catch fish," Gayle responded.

"He's so easy to get wound up over silly things. Yeah, he's soft. He only looks big and strong but he's soft," Gayle said of Watson.
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Meanwhile, an overwhelming 71 per cent of almost 1500 people surveyed by Fox Sports website termed the Australian team's outburst, which resulted in three of its players being fined, "over the top and embarrassing".

Only 17 per cent described the behaviour as "passionate but in the spirit of the game", while fewer than 12 per cent responded "awesome, that's how Aussies play".

Responding to the survey, Ponting said: "You have to take notice".

"We try and do the right thing by the game and by the public all the time and we're also trying win games of cricket. Make no mistake, the guys are very aware that they did the wrong thing and have all come out and admitted it.

"It's sport at the highest level and the contest is very fierce but you can play with great passion and intent without going over the top."