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LONDON: England cricket coach says his side’s behaviour during the recent tour of India was not “up to scratch” as it overdid the aggression which was against team policy.

England’s team lost all five matches of the ODI tour and came in for sharp criticism for its aggressive on-field behaviour.

“Yes we overdid it, definitely. We got that balance wrong and it will be addressed. They have driven each other on and driven their standards higher and that’s part of the strength of the group. But in this series we got it wrong,” Flower told ‘The Daily Mail’.

“I heard some of our younger players say that the sledging was an attempt to jog Indian players out of their comfort zone or something equally strange. That is not the case. That was not a team policy at all. We should take our role as role models seriously and I don’t think our behaviour was up to scratch,” he added.

Flower was once again critical of Graeme Swann, who made some unsavoury remarks about team-mate Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography.

“The Swann book wasn’t ideal. If we can avoid situations like that they’re best avoided because we pretty much live together for a large chunk of the year. For instance in 2012 we are going to be away from our own homes for 240-plus nights. When you are living together like that as a group you’re not going to agree on everything but there needs to be a degree of harmony and honesty,” Flower said.

“That situation arose and I think it was dealt with efficiently and maturely by both guys, especially Kevin Pietersen. He conducted himself well through a tricky situation. I know it sounds a little silly but I was proud of him,” he added. -PTI

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