Is sledging part of cricket?

Is sledging part of cricket?

As a staunch traditionalist I have for long bemoaned the growing misbehavior of players. As far as I am concerned cricketers have long since gone overboard. Every time there is a little confrontation on the field or a banter that is not exactly friendly players just shrug it off when questioned by the media saying``Oh it was nothing. It’s all part of the game.’’ I have always felt that things should be nipped in the bud so that they don’t fly out of control. But by just shrugging things off, shoving them under the carpet and putting on a pretence that the problem didn’t exist things were clearly getting out of hand over the years and increasing misbehavior is but a culmination of what negligence and not tackling problems head on could lead to. I always cite the example of arguably the most disgraceful scene in the game – Rashid Patel chasing after Raman Lamba with a stump during the 1990-91 Duleep Trophy final at Jameshpur – and remind my audience that it all started with both players taunting each other with chaste abuse words.

Look how it ended just because things were not nipped in the bud. Ultimately sledging had to get personal and lead to ugly on-field confrontations such as the one between Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan at St John’s in 2003. The Australian fast bowler reportedly started the verbal war and became incensed at Sarwan’s riposte – an apparent reference to McGrath’s wife. And just recently Dale Steyn said that he hasn’t forgiven Australian captain Michael Clarke for what he considered to be a ``personal sledge’’ during the Newlands Test earlier this year. Clarke had publicly apologized to the South African pace spearhead following the incident but according to Steyn the issue has not yet been resolved.

I have always advocated that sledging has no place in cricket whatsoever and remain firmly of the view that with the cooperation of everyone concerned – administrators, umpires, match referees and players – the cancer can be eradicated and the game believe me will be much the better as a result.

Former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar is another who has strong views on the subject. In fact he wants the ICC to ban all types of sledging to stop animosity between rival players.  Not too long ago Tim de Lisle, former editor of Wisden in a thought provoking article also called for a ban on sledging. He argued that deep down cricketers are aware that sledging iswrong.  In fact de Lisle went further and said that if the ICC does not ban sledging the captains should take the lead. What is needed is a big, simple, magnanimous response. The problem has now spread all over the cricketing world and the only solution is to get to the root of the cause. The cynics might say that the fans wouldn’t enjoy watching a game conducted largely in silence. I wonder how much they are enjoying the vulgarity and obscenity that is being enacted out in the field in the guise of passion. It is ultimately a matter of ethics. Players have the power to clear the air. Let them start something now, something that leaves cricket in a better state and spirit than they found it. God knows that the once great game is in need of a healing touch and for all the initiative taken by the authorities who better to provide it than the cricketers themselves!

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