CLUB cricketers in Worcestershire have been told to clean up their act or face the consequences.

Officials from the Crusader Worcestershire County League have issued the warning after complaints concerning the behaviour of players and clubs have reached record levels.

Instances of verbal abuse towards players and umpires, sledging of under 18s, leaving dressing rooms in a mess and posting derogatory comments about opponents on websites have all been reported.

With only a month of the season gone, the league, which governs 14 divisions involving clubs across Worcestershire and Herefordshire, has decided to act.

The league has also threatened to take particularly strong action against persistent offenders.

Chairman Peter Radburn, who declined to name individual players or clubs, said: "We would like to get a message across that this isn't the sort of behaviour we want.

"Over the course of a season you get a few of these things happening but we have had more than we should have recently.

"We have probably had more incidents already this season than we had in the whole of last year.

"If this kind of behaviour continues from some clubs then those organisations can expect to feel the wrath of the league.

"We can take strong action but we don't want it to get to that stage."

Chief among the concerns is abuse and swearing, with umpires already turning their backs on the game and youngsters subjected to bad language.

The chairman said: "There's always plenty of banter going on but the ECB (English Cricket Board) are keen to protect youngsters.

"At our level you get a lot of 13 and 14-year-olds playing in adult cricket and they need to be protected from the bad behaviour and the language."

There have also been cases of people posting disrespectful remarks on internet message boards and accusations of clubs using the weather as an excuse to call games off when they could not field a team.

Radburn said: "There are one or two club websites that have information that should not be there. It's a bit petty but stuff we don't want to see in a properly run league."

But he added: "Ninety to 95 per cent of clubs are fine so we don't want the minority ruining it for the others."

Have you been involved in a cricket match marred by abuse or bad behaviour? Email the sports desk at wensport@worcesternews.co.uk