Staff from CA's integrity unit came across the picture of Broad appearing to watch the Ryder Cup on his computer during the ODI at Centurion on September 30, above which he posted: "Cricket? What cricket? #bbcrydercup".

CA have not made a formal complaint but have brought the embarrassing scene to the attention of the ICC's senior manager of umpires and referees, Adrian Griffith, and ICC general manager Geoff Allardice.

The post by Broad, the father of Australia's Ashes tormentor Stuart Broad, looks rather innocuous at face value but figures at CA were left stunned at the sight of the 59-year-old appearing to keep track of the action at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota with the Australian and South African teams playing on the ground in the background.

A spokesman for CA declined to comment when contacted on Friday but officials have privately questioned the appropriateness of Broad's apparent conduct at Centurion.

The match referee is the official appointed to oversee games and make post-match rulings on issues such as behavioural sanctions. They view matches from the same room as the television umpire, which during the first ODI in South Africa was the Englishman Nigel Llong.

The Australians had been unhappy during that match about a contentious decision in which opener Aaron Finch was given out caught at short fine leg on 33 despite replays appearing to show the ball simultaneously touching the grass as South Africa's Wayne Parnell grabbed it.

Third umpire Llong was called upon to make the ruling and was convinced the ball carried, determining it a legal catch and triggering Finch to yell in anger as he walked off the ground. There would be limited joy for the tourists for the rest of the series, with South Africa winning 5-0.

It is understood CA is yet to hear back from the ICC about the Broad image, which was posted on October 1, beyond an acknowledgement of the email sent by the integrity unit.

While his son Stuart is one of their greatest adversaries on the field, the Australians have a difficult relationship with Broad snr, having found him far from the easiest of match officials to deal with. 

Broad has history with Australia stretching well back past his days as a match referee, having inspired England to victory in the 1986-87 Ashes with 487 runs in the series including three hundreds.

Stuart has also devastated Australian teams in the Ashes, most notably last year at Trent Bridge when he claimed 8-15 in an extraordinary first session of the fourth Test as Michael Clarke's men were all out for 60.

The ICC is yet to announce the match referees and umpires for Australia's upcoming Test series against South Africa, which begins in Perth on November 3.