James Anderson: Sledging no worse now than in previous years

England bowler James Anderson insists sledging in cricket is no worse in the modern game than in previous years.

Australia's David Warner clashed with Rohit Sharma last week when he told the India batsman to "speak English".

The International Cricket Council has warned that on-field spats will not be tolerated at the World Cup next month.

But Anderson said: "I don't think at the moment there is any more sledging than there's been in the history of cricket - it's gone on for years."

ICC chief executive David Richardson said: "Over the last six months there have been too many examples of player behaviour going too far.

"Since then, we have done a lot of work with our umpires and match referees to ensure they are much more proactive in terms of policing behaviour on the field.

"For the World Cup it will be no different - and at all pre-event briefings with the teams, the match referees will be making sure that message is delivered loud and clear."

Former New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe has suggested using football-style red and yellow cards to combat dissent.

Anderson was cleared of a serious misconduct charge last summer following an incident with Ravindra Jadeja at Trent Bridge, but the 32-year-old Lancastrian, who has played 185 ODIs, believes there is a place for verbal jousting between opposing players.

"I don't think it should disappear from the game. I think it's quite entertaining when it's done in the right manner," Anderson said.

"I think guys have got to use their heads a little bit and be a bit smart about what is said on the field, if anything is said at all.

"But you don't want to take away the aggression from teams."

England and Australia meet again in the triangular series in Hobart on Friday.

The Australians won the first match by three wickets but England revived their campaign with an emphatic nine-wicket bonus point victory over India on Tuesday.

Anderson returned from knee trouble for his first international since September to take 4-18 and told BBC Sport he now felt fully fit.