Once again a sportsman, this time Lonwabo Tsotsobe, has sullied his reputation by remarks made on the social networking site Twitter.

English cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney are just some of the big names who have been forced to eat humble pie after their thoughtless remarks were read by millions around the world.

"Ive never felt like ths eva. Ths is the worst two mnths of my life. And u know wen u start regretin urself it aint gud. its just impossible to work in ths environment," Tsotsobe revealed on Twitter about his time with English county cricket side Essex.

Essex coach Paul Grayson expressed disappointment at Tsotsobe's remarks and insisted the 27-year-old's "attitude and work rate are not to the standard of an international cricketer.

"I've read a few of his comments and I am very surprised. We've given him a great opportunity to come and play county cricket and what he has said about us is downright rude," he told the BBC.

Cricket South Africa on Tuesday confirmed Tsotsobe had been released from his Essex contract a week ahead of schedule stating it was by mutual consent as the left-hander had not been picked for the side's current match against Middlesex and they were not intending to select him for next week's fixture against Gloucestershire either, which is the last one to fall within Tsotsobe's contract period.

Signed by the English second division outfit during the South African off-season, the left-arm fast bowler Tsotsobe was out of form and bagged just five wickets, at an average of 77.60 runs, in three four-day County Championship matches.

He did not fare much better in the limited-overs competition taking eight wickets at a cost of 6.28 from five one-day appearances.

Grayson said Tsotsobe was, in fact, Essex's third-choice signing after potential deals with Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle and New Zealand seamer Tim Southee fell through.

He was clearly unimpressed with Tsotsobe's behaviour and said the 27 year-old had not made the most of his opportunity at Essex.

"To hear the things he said about our dressing room, it's very annoying.

"We brought him here to do a job. He got off to a bad start and was under-prepared. His confidence has since been dented.

"In my opinion, he has only got himself to blame."

South African-born Pietersen landed himself in hot water with the England Cricket Board for his outburst on Twitter after he was dropped from the England T20 side to face Pakistan in September 2010.

"Yep. Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too.. Its a fuck up!! Surrey have signed me for l ..."

Pietersen was fined an undisclosed sum as it is generally understood that players are not allowed to comment about team squads until after the official announcement is made. His tweet came out several hours before and was soon picked up by blogs, new sites and TV across the globe.

Even though it was hastily removed it had already been seen, copied and pasted. These things are impossible to undo no matter if you hit the delete button or not.

In the same month, Australian swimmer Rice apologised for her homophobic comment on Twitter following a Tri-Nations rugby match between Australia and South Africa.

Despite a tearful public apology, luxury carmaker Jaguar scrapped a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Beijing Olympics triple gold medallist after her comment "Suck on that faggots!" when Australia narrowly beat the Springboks 41-39 in Bloemfontein on September 4, 2010.

More recently, Rooney was warned by the England's Football Association for his recent outburst on Twitter.

He was embroiled in a row with a fan this week and offered to fight him after receiving an abusive message.

"I'll put u asleep within 10 seconds" threatened the Manchester United star.

Sportsmen would do well to heed the advice of ex-Manchester United legend Andy Cole, who said the abuse came with the territory but you had to take it on the chin and prove your worth on the field.

"If you're successful and are playing for the most successful team in the country, you'll get abuse," Cole told a reporter from the UK Daily Mail.

"You must take that on the chin, play like he has done at the back end of the season and say judge me on the way I play."

Cole said Rooney would benefit from following David Beckham's example.

"Take a look at David Beckham - he received dogs abuse when he came back from the 1998 World Cup but look at the way he turned it around - he got his head down, grafted, played some good football and is now the apple of everyone's eye in England. Who heads up the Olympic bid? David Beckham. Who heads up the World Cup bid? David Beckham. That's how you can turn it around."