Calcutta: An anxious phone call from his wife has led Ricky Ponting to pledge to ensure his side’s behaviour is not seen to be arrogant in future matches.

The Australian captain on Thursday admitted he wished he and his mates had done a few things “slightly differently” at Sydney, and promised to watch footage to see where things may have gone out of hand.

He said he first realised the gravity of the situation when wife Rianna called up to check whether he still had his job. Many Australian fans, former players and journalists have criticised the team’s behaviour and some have called for the captain’s head.

“‘Have you seen the papers?’ she (Rianna) asked and said: ‘Is everything OK with your job?’ She was a bit worried and a bit shaken. I said everything will be OK,” Ponting told Herald Sun newspaper.

The couple had married in 2003 and Ponting credits Rianna’s steadying influence for the rich form he struck almost immediately, hitting three double centuries in a year. He had blown a kiss at the tall blonde, a law graduate, after completing one of the 200s, against India at Adelaide in December 2003.

Rianna, in a TV interview in 2005, had described her husband as a “flawless man” and “perfect”.

Ponting, however, on Thursday said he regretted some of his actions at Sydney, like standing too long at the crease after being given out lbw in the first innings.

“There’s no doubt I stood there for a second or two too long and I shouldn’t have done that. And it probably didn’t help that I was shown throwing my bat when I got back to the rooms,” he said.

“Some of the guys mightn’t have shaken Kumble’s hand after the game,” he added.

“But we were so wrapped up with the end of the game that they were already off the field. And we all walked along when it was over and shook their hands.”

He said he would go through the Test’s highlights to see how some of his team’s actions may have looked to fans.

“I think it’s important that we sit back and look at that footage. Look at our body language. See if there are areas that we can improve on.

But he said sometimes the public was mistaken. “I may be talking to opposition players but it might be construed by people watching on television that you’re in a slanging or sledging match.”

“If we were big-headed and arrogant we wouldn’t have been celebrating like that,” he said. “Big-headedness doesn’t go hand in hand with the sort of euphoria we showed.”