No hard feelings over Dave Warner outburst

DAVID Warner had the right idea but the wrong words when he engaged me in a Twitter joust on Saturday.

DAVID Warner had the right idea but the wrong words when he engaged me in a Twitter joust on Saturday.

I hope his charging by Cricket Australia yesterday for unbecoming behaviour following our robust exchange does not stop Warner and other Australian cricketers speaking out on social or traditional media.

Australia already has enough homogenised sports stars without Warner's charge adding to fear of saying what they think.

He texted me on Saturday night to say he did not mean to be personal and that he was annoyed a photo of him was used to illustrate a background story on the sleazy nightlife of the IPL by colleague Robert Craddock.

I replied there were no hard feelings, I was a great believer in free speech and he was entitled to his opinion.

I have also told three of Cricket Australia's senior managers that I had taken no offence. This was all part of the cut and thrust of working in the media.

I consider this a storm in a teacup and that a disciplinary hearing to be organised by CA today should do no more than remind Warner of his public responsibilities to use more appropriate language.

This latest episode should remind competitors in all elite sports of the public standards expected when they hit the button and 140 characters explode around the globe.

Say your piece as strongly as you like but consider there are many out there who do not appreciate bad language, particularly parents of children who idolise sports stars.

Twitter: Conn v Warner

There is a line between strong debate and personal abuse in the same why there is a line on the field between aggressive cricket and unacceptable behaviour.

Since the remarkable reaction to Warner's outburst other players have quite rightly pointed out that journalists make comment on players all the time and Twitter allows them the opportunity to make their own unfettered observations.

I'm surprised this episode has become so big.

In almost 30 years of covering international cricket I have had a significant number of pointed and sometimes heated discussions with players.

I had my first blue with an Australian cricketer before Warner was born. In the pre-Twitter days they stayed at the bar or the dressing room door.