Shane Warne'S Hampshire teammates have defended their captain after Sussex skipper Chris Adams accused the Australian legend of trying to humiliate his players.

Adams criticised his opposite number after the championship game at Hove ended in a thrilling draw at the weekend with Hampshire 267-8 as they chased 285 to win.

Adams believes Warne over-stepped the mark, particularly in his treatment of England hopeful Matt Prior, whom he dismissed in both innings.

Adams said: "Playing hard on the field is fine by me but to try to publicly humiliate young players in the opposition is disappointing.

"Matt Prior came in for quite a lot of verbal abuse.

"Because of what he has done in the game Shane Warne will always be considered a great.

"Off the field he was outstanding and the first person to congratulate us and say what a great game it was, but I have lost a lot of respect for him because of the way he behaved in this match.

"I've played for 18 years with and against some of the greatest players in the world - legends like Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Steve Waugh. Not one of those guys ever felt the need to disrespect people or disrespect the game."

But Warne's men have defended their skipper. Veteran spinner Shaun Udal said: "Shane gets a lot of unfair criticism at times and I certainly didn't hear him overstep the mark."

And another Hampshire player, who did not wish to be named, said: "It was just good banter, I didn't hear any swearing.

"Matt Prior got a bit of stick from Warney after swaggering out to bat as though he had a couple of watermelons under his arms but it was very funny, it certainly wasn't nasty."