IT was clearly too much to expect - that the standards of behaviour and sportsmanship displayed by the cricketers of England and Australia might rub off on the world of football.

Those cricketing standards had been a feature of the summer. Despite one of the greatest rivalries in sport, England and Australia shared a dignity and respect that showed the way games should be played.

But before the engine of England's victory parade bus had chance to cool, Wayne Rooney was showing that he'd learned absolutely nothing from the lesson of the Ashes.

In an important European fixture for the club which pays him millions, he was booked for a foul. Instead of accepting the decision and walking away, he chose sarcastically to applaud in the referee's face and was duly sent off.

Rooney may be the most gifted English footballer since Paul Gascoigne, but his latest flash of stupidity came a week after he lost his temper in an England shirt and his undoubted talent is in danger of being diluted by his lack of intelligence.

There were suggestions yesterday that the referee in question, Kim Milton Nielsen - the official who famously sent off David Beckham for his petulant kick at an Argentinian in the 1998 World Cup - might receive hate mail from English fans.

In fact, he should be sent messages of congratulations for giving Rooney exactly what he deserved.