Twitter ye not, players must know when and where to air their views

Presumably it would be a breach of their human rights, or some such twaddle.

But the fact is, some players simply cannot be trusted to use the medium sensibly.

The time has come for cricket to hit the tweeters for six and to impose some form of self-regulation.

Consider the evidence.

Since Twitter began in 2006, there has been a steady stream of embarrassing incidents.

Last year, for example, Australia opener Phil Hughes revealed he had been left out of the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, pre-empting the official team announcement.

"Disappointed not to be on the field with the lads today," tweeted Hughes, oblivious to the fact his comments could be seen by anyone on the Internet.

"Will be supporting the guys, it's a BIG test match 4 us. Thanks 4 all the support!"

Two months later, Yorkshire and England pace bowler Tim Bresnan also tweeted himself into trouble.

Responding to an anonymous picture which exaggerated the size of his midriff, Bresnan replied: "Don't mind my mates dishing it out but who the f*** are you. Crawl out of your basement. U ****."

Bresnan was forced to apologise for his foul-fingered rant and warned by England about his future conduct.

Alas, these are not isolated instances.

In the last three months alone, there have been four more examples of indiscreet tweeting.

As Yorkshire cricket followers will not need reminding, the England and Wales Cricket Board banned the young Yorkshire all-rounder Azeem Rafiq for one month after he let fly at England U-19 manager John Abrahams.

After being sacked as England U-19 captain following a breach of team discipline and dropped from the side, Rafiq ranted: "What a ****ing farsee (sic) . . . John Abrahams is a useless **** . . . ECB prove it again what incompetent people are working for them!! . . . John Abrahams is a useless ******"

A few days later, Kevin Pietersen, who was England's player of the tournament at the Twenty20 World Cup, got his knickers in a twist after being dropped for the Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan.

"Yep... Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too... Its a f--- up!! Surrey have signed me for l…", at which point the Tweet cut off.

No sooner had that episode rocked the Twitterati than Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas did little for his chances of an England recall.

Mascarenhas lashed out at a perceived snub during Hampshire's Championship game against Lancashire at Liverpool, when he alleged national selector Geoff Miller failed to acknowledge his presence.

Mascarenhas made his views quite clear: "chairman of selectors came to Liverpool and didn't even come and say hi.. what a p****.. Doesn't take much to say hello does it?"

Eight hours later, Mascarenhas added: "Geoff Miller is a complete k***.. He had no clue what he is doing.. Fing p****.…"

Last but not least, Pietersen landed himself in further bother when he made the following observation about the Adelaide groundstaff in the build-up to this week's second Ashes Test.

"What should a groundsmen (sic) make sure he does 2 days before a test match? Cover the nets when it rains maybe? PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!" declared Pietersen.

Although he escaped censure for his latest comments, they showed he had learned little from his previous transgression.

And that, in a nutshell, is the nub of the problem.

How long before the next Twitter flare-up?

A couple of days, maybe? A week? A few months?

As sure as eggs are eggs, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be sooner, rather than later.

It is a ticking time-bomb that won't go away.

England captain Andrew Strauss, however, does not seem concerned.

In the wake of Pietersen's latest assault, he said: "Everyone is different and a lot of the guys really enjoy it (Twitter).

"And it is a good way of broadening the appeal of the game, there is no doubt about it.

"It allows players to be in contact with people that support the game, so there are some real benefits to it.

"But it has to be used responsibly and, by and large, it has been."

By and large, however, simply isn't good enough.

Can you imagine the outcry, for instance, if some of the above comments were made during players' press conferences?

Indeed, when one considers the paranoid lengths to which some sportsmen go to utter banalities to the media, it is laughable how they then shoot themselves in the foot with Twitter entries.

As you've probably guessed, wet blanket Waters here is no fan of an online service that allows you to let people know what you are doing at any time of day or night.

It is a vacuous form of communication which implies the greatest arrogance of all – that anyone is remotely bothered by what you are doing.

In the interests of idle research, I logged on to Pietersen's Twitter page and discovered he made no fewer than 18 entries on the day before the second Test.

These included:

"What on earth is happening with the weather at home?? -8 on thurs minimum?? Wow!!"

"@WestwoodLee.. Welcome to Twitter big boy... Best golfer in the world joins the family!! You gonna pop over for a test here bud??"

"Come on tweeps.. Please don't go to (sic) hard @piersmorgan.. He's a good man!!"

And so on.

Without wishing to pick on Pietersen, such inanities are found on the Twitter pages of many England players.

And if those entries are "broadening the appeal of the game", as Strauss would have us believe, he is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Of course, if folk want to spend time tweeting away to their heart's content, that's their business.

But those in the public eye must realise they are making comments in the public domain – not sending private text messages to friends and colleagues.

Because the next Azeem Rafiq-style incident is an inevitability rather than a possibility, and because there is little any coach or captain can do to stop certain players getting into trouble, the only answer is for the cricketing authorities to impose a ban.

It may be tough luck on the majority who use the service responsibly, but if it stops people like Rafiq making a fool of themselves, it's got to be a good thing.