Matthew Hayden has been reprimanded by Cricket Australia after calling Harbhajan Singh, the India spinner, an "obnoxious weed" on Australian radio.

Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman, said Hayden broke the code of behavior "which prohibits detrimental public comment."

The Australia batsman clashed with Harbhajan in Sunday's one-day international at the SCG with the Indians claiming he had called the spinner a "mad boy". However, Hayden insisted he called Harbhajan a "bad boy" but went on to blast the Indian, who was charged but later cleared of racially abusing Andrew Symonds in the second Test.

"It's been a bit of a long battle with Harbhajan," Hayden told The Cage breakfast show on Brisbane radio station Triple M. "The first time I ever met him he was the same little obnoxious weed that he is now.

"His record speaks for itself in cricket. There is a certain line that you can kind of go to and then you know where you push it and he just pushes it all the time. That's why he has been charged more than anyone that's ever played in the history of cricket."

Hayden was not fined or suspended in the hearing today and afterwards he said: "I maintain my innocence. My intentions were never to denigrate cricket or anyone but the umpire has made his decision and in the spirit of our own code of behaviour and the great game of cricket I respect and accept the decision. We've got a trophy out there that, for the next few weeks, I'm obviously really keen with my team-mates to concentrate on."

Hayden's remark on the radio came after India confirmed they had written to Jeff Crowe, Sunday's match referee, asking him to look into the "provocative" behaviour of the Australia players.

"We are not cry babies but obviously we can't allow our players to be regularly sledged," Vimal Soni, the India team manager, said. Hayden played down that clash with Harbhajan, insisting: "I called him a bad boy. He took offence to that and I thought that was quite funny. I said, 'Mate you should be flattered, it's a clothing range'."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India captain, backed Harbhajan after Sunday's incident, something Indian Premier League side Chennai are bound to monitor closely after the franchise bought both Dhoni and Hayden in last week's auction.

Meanwhile, Brad Hogg has announced he will retire from international cricket after the end of the CB Series.

The 37-year-old spinner has played 121 one-day internationals and seven Test matches since making his debut in 1996, and was part of Australia's triumphant World Cup sides in 2003 and 2007.

"My career started against India and I thought if I can play Test cricket against India that would be fantastic," Hogg said.

The 37-year-old becomes the third Australian in the past month to leave the international arena, joining Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Tait.