Australia coach Mickey Arthur tells players they need to 'lift their game' on and off the field In his blog on cricket.com.au, Arthur said: "Being late for a meeting, high skinfolds, wearing the wrong attire, back-chat or giving attitude are just some examples of these behavioural issues that have been addressed discretely but continue to happen. If we're deadly serious about getting back to number one in the world, all players need to raise the bar and lift their game. If not, we must be content at being number three or four or five in world cricket because we won't get any better. The players won't learn and we'll continue a vicious cycle. Let's be absolutely clear. The decision to suspend Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja for not adhering to a team request is the defining moment, but it has been a culmination of lots of small minor indiscretions that have built up to now. Former South Africa mentor Arthur also admitted the past two days had been the toughest of his 11-year coaching career. "The media reaction to this decision was like none I've seen in my coaching career and has certainly divided opinion," he said. It is a strong message to everyone in Australian cricket that if you want to play for the Australian cricket team, then we demand excellence. Corner-cutting, taking short-cuts or arriving with a bad attitude will no longer be tolerated. We want to be the Spanish football team, Manchester United or McLaren of world cricket.