Coaches 'let issues reach crisis' Coach Mickey Arthur says the reaction to the axing in the aftermath of two terrible defeats in India has eclipsed anything he experienced with the Proteas. As coach Mickey Arthur elaborated on the misdemeanours that led to the axing of four players for the Mohali Test, player representatives said team management must take responsibility for allowing the issues to reach crisis point. While the players' union has declined to take a public stance on the decision, it's understood Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Paul Marsh intends to write to Cricket Australia expressing disappointment that a pattern of small behavioural issues was allowed to reach a point where such drastic action was taken. Arthur has confirmed that "back chat or giving attitude" had crept into the culture of the team and he had tried a discrete approach to lifting standards. "Being late for a meeting, high skin folds, 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," Arthur wrote in a blog for CA's website. If we're deadly serious about getting back to No.1 in the world, all players need to raise the bar and lift their game. If not, we must be content at being No.3 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. Arthur, who was not a fierce disciplinarian during his time as coach of South Africa, said the reaction to the decision in the aftermath of two terrible defeats in India had eclipsed anything he experienced with the Proteas. "The last week-and-a-half since the end of the Hyderabad Test has been the toughest in my 11 years coaching," Arthur 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. Meanwhile, former opening batsman Matthew Hayden has strongly backed Watson as a team man. Hayden, who played with Watson for Australia and Queensland from 2003 to 2008, praised the 31-year-old. "Shane is a team man and vice-captain of our nation," he said in an emailed response to AAP. Along with his gentle disposition yet outstanding competitive streak it has enabled Shane's immense talents with both bat and ball to rise to the top to become one of this country's more decorated performers in all forms of the game.