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Murray wants crackdown on on-court coaching

Andy Murray believes on court coaching needs to be punished © PA Photos

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Andy Murray has urged tournament organisers to crack down on players who receive coaching during their matches.

The world No. 4, who breezed into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after Mikhail Kukushkin retired in the third set of their fourth-round encounter, believes technology should be used to stop coaches advising their players.

While on-court coaching is permitted at WTA Tour tournaments, it is still prohibited at grand slams. At the 2006 US Open Maria Sharapova's father, Yuri, held up a banana to remind his daughter to eat, while Tomas Berdych was given a warning during his bad-tempered win over Nicolas Almagro on Sunday.

Chair umpires are expected to enforce the rule but Murray believes illegal communication between a player and coach should be cut out with the help of cameras. While Murray's coach Ivan Lendl threw a towel over a nearby camera to avoid being broadcast on the big screen, the Scot believes technology can play a role in cutting out cheating.

"In some ways, it's good," Murray said of cameras being directed towards a player's box. "I think if they're going to put a camera there, they should at least use it for the benefit of the umpire or someone, if people are blatantly coaching.

"There have been a few weird decisions the last few days. I saw one yesterday, Berdych getting a warning for coaching. A few others have been  the umpires have been speaking to the players saying, 'You need to stop getting coaching'."

With Murray communicating with Lendl in English, he believes it would be harder to receive on-court coaching than another player.

"I don't know how anyone knows what's getting said, to be honest," he said. "There's a lot of different languages out there. Unfortunately, English is spoken most places, so we can't really get away with the coaching. But if the camera's going to be there, they should at least use it to stop people from coaching."

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