Melbourne: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has defended the behaviour of the Indian spectators as well as cricketers like pacer Sreesanth during the recent one-day series, saying they were all well behaved.

“Personally, I like the controlled aggression. We know that through world cricket that we have a line in the sand that we can’t overstep. If you overstep that line, well then you get penalised for it. It’s all about passion. It’s all about playing for your country,” Lee said. Lee said the on-field verbal duels were in the right spirit.

“The way India have come back and fought really hard and given a bit of a mental barrage and also a bit of a verbal barrage, and they’ve been saying it in the right way... It hasn’t been a problem.” “Without being too controversial, you’ve got to realise there’s two or three people in the crowd out of 90 to 100,000 people. I mean if you do the odds, the crowd was so well-behaved. It’s the same here in Australia. The crowds here are brilliant and I’m sure they’re looking forward to some great cricket,” he said.

Inzy eager to get going

New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq Thursday said he would participate in Indian Cricket League’s inaugural Twenty20 championship, starting in Panchkula on November 30.

“It gives me great pleasure to play in the inaugural edition of ICL. I also look forward to playing with promising youngsters from India and elsewhere along with some of the illustrious international players with whom I have shared many exciting moments on the field,” he was quoted as saying in a media release from Lahore.

Aussie season on TV

Calcutta: Indian fans will have an opportunity to see action from Australian domestic cricket on ESPN Star Sports, which will telecast their key matches on Star Cricket channel. According to information received here, the channel will show 27 domestic one-day matches and five domestic Twenty20 matches in addition to the live telecast of the finals of the Pura Cup, to be played by the likes of Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting.

Dav’s plans

Bangalore: Newly-appointed director Dav Whatmore wants to ring in a change or two at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to make it more useful to Indian cricket. “It’s a good facility that has served Indian cricket well. We hope to improve it further. May be we will have a slight change or two,” Whatmore said without elaborating on the exact nature of the planned modifications.

Lara all set

Calcutta: Brian Lara is counting down the days to his return to action at this weekend’s sold-out Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong Cricket Sixes, about five months after quitting international cricket.

The classy left-hander, despite being tired, was eager to get into the thick of things with his All-Star teammates — including two of his greatest rivals, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

“It will be good to finally have two of my nemeses in Shane and Glenn on the same team with me.”