Australia to investigate Warner's twitter rant

Cricket Australia is to investigate an extraordinary Twitter outburst by opening batsmen David Warner that attacked two senior Australian cricket journalists.

The 26-year-old Warner criticised News Limited journalists Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn in an expletive-filled tirade, which has created headlines in Australia.

"Cricket Australia is aware of comments made on David Warner's Twitter account overnight," Cricket Australia said in a statement on Saturday.

"Cricket Australia is attempting to contact Warner and will continue to investigate the matter.

"Cricket Australia will make further comment once it has conducted a thorough investigation."

It was unclear whether Warner's Twitter account had been hacked.

Several other high-profile Twitter accounts have been hacked in recent weeks, including some run by media organisations the Financial Times, the Guardian and the BBC.

News Limited, however, reported that Cricket Australia had contacted Conn to apologise for the tweets.

"I know that Cricket Australia aren't very happy with the language he's used to express himself this morning," Conn was reported on News Limited's website (www.news.com.au) as telling a Melbourne radio station.

"Cricket Australia have touched base with me and apologised and said that it was inappropriate and they'll be taking action."

Several Australian media organisations' websites published Warner's tweets in which he took issue with a story by Craddock before he embarked on a running battle with Conn, who had come to the defence of his colleague.

Photograph: BCCI