Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) president Greg Dyer has taken a veiled swipe at Cricket Australia (CA), saying the governing body must also be held accountable for the team's culture.
As the fallout from Australian cricket's explosive cheating scandal continues, CA has committed to setting up an independent review into "the conduct and culture" of the men's teams.
Full details are yet to be revealed but it will be undertaken by an expert panel that will report to the CA board.
The aggressive behaviour of the Australian team has long been a concern with coach Darren Lehmann accused of allowing a ruthless team mentality to go largely unchecked.
CA chief James Sutherland has confirmed Lehmann will remain in his job but Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft face lengthy bans over the ball-tampering incident in Cape Town.
It remains unclear whether there will also be implications for Sutherland and high performance manager Pat Howard, who is leading an investigation into the incident along with integrity chief Iain Roy.
The players' union has called for the review of the team's culture to extend to the top of the chain.
"This assessment must include all contributing parties to this culture; players, coaches and administrators, programs and systems, behaviours and accountabilities," Dyer said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Australia's core values of respect, integrity and fairness must be brought to bear on the game of cricket through such a process.
"The ACA offers its full endeavours to an independent cultural examination, diagnosis and ultimately remedy which must occur in the days, weeks, months and years ahead."
Relations between CA and the ACA remain tense after last year's ugly pay dispute.
Months of acrimonious negotiations finally ended in August last year when CA and the ACA agreed to a major new deal, but not before threats from both sides including talk of an Ashes boycott by players.
Nicholson said "very serious mistakes, contrary to the spirit of cricket" had been made in Cape Town.
"The players are remorseful for the mistakes they have made," he said.
"And they regret how their actions have represented themselves, teammates, cricket and their country."
The ACA is providing players with legal and welfare support.
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