Cricket: The 'art' of sledging

Not so long ago sledging was a winter dabble in the snow with the kids. Use the word now and it's not even ambig-uous, everyone seems to know it refers to the exchange of verbal abuse on the sports field.

That an internationally recognised term has been coined for such a practice makes it hard to knowwhether we should bemorally outraged or simply resigned to the fact that sledging is a legitimate part of the package.

Nowhere is sledging more rife than cricket, suggesting that the most gentlemanly of all pursuits has adopted the latter school of thought.

Other sports have a zero tolerance approach to sledging, taking the view it is unethical.

Leading sports psychologist Dave Hadfield believes the whole issue is not really so black and white: "Immanuel Kant the philosopher said all killing was wrong. But from autilitarian perspective, it depends. If you are a prisoner in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and the colonel says you have to shoot someone who is escaping or he will kill 10 other men, what do you do? Is it better to kill one man to save 10?

"I guess with sledging it depends, too. I don't have a problem with guys having a word, saying something witty. That's all part of the dance and, in cricket, where players have long days in the field, you need a bit of humour. Nobody wants to play in silence.

"But there is no room for abuse, swearing at people. These top players are role models and we have to think about what effect their actions will have on young kids watching them play."

In recent years, cricketers have found it hard to discern the difference between good-natured banter and abusing opponents.

Banter has always been part of the game. The great W.G. Grace was renowned for providing humorous commentaries whenever he played a test.

For most of the 20th century verbal exchanges between fielding teams and batsmen never really extended beyond discussions about the weather. And when they did, they were never tinged with vitriol.

The most famous examplecoming in an English county cricket game in the late 1970s. Glamorgan bowler Greg Thomas whizzed a couple past the legendary West Indies captain Viv Richards who was playing for Somerset. Having played andmissed both times Thomas offered Richards this advice: "It's red, round and weighs about fiveounces."

When Richards dispatched the next ball deep into the stands, he replied: "You know what it looks like, go ahead and find it."

Somehow, though, the game was infected with poison in the modern era. The witty oneliners were replaced by more brutal assaults. And it was Australia leading the charge, which was strange, as under Don Bradman the merest hint of unsportsmanlike behaviour would end a player's test career.

Maybe they were inspired by the English bowler, Fred Trueman, who back in the early 1960s opened a few eyes to the potentialpsychological damage that could be caused by a few well chosen words.

Fielding close to the pavilion in an Ashes test, he noticed the new Australian batsman was struggling to shut the gate as he came out. Trueman shouted: "Don't bother closing it, son, you are not going to be out there long enough."

Whatever the source ofAustralia's inspiration, they have taken sledging to new levels of crassness.

Subtlety is no longer revered - as those who plucked up the courage to watch the dismal progress of New Zealand's second innings in Brisbane would have seen.

Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and Craig McMillan were involved in heated debate.

Gilchrist was incensed that McMillan didn't walk after appearing to edge a ball into the wicketkeepers' gloves.

Channel Nine microphones didn't quite pick up the flavour ofGilchrist's outburst but did capture the Kiwi batsman saying: "Not everyone is a ****ing walker, Gilly. Not everyone has to walk, mate."

One can only imagine what Gilchrist said to illicit that response. The smart money says it was probably something direct, heavily punctuated with expletives.

South African captain Graeme Smith gave an insight into the tone of Australia's sledging when he was asked about Shane Warne.

"All he does is call you a **** all day. When he walked past me, he said, 'You ****ing ****, what are you doing here'?"

Warne's team-mate Glenn McGrath is also capable of stunning invective. Last yearagainst the West Indies, McGrath was hit for 21 in one over byRamnaresh Sarwan.

Outraged at such audacity, McGrath put forward the theory that Sarwan and his captain, Brian Lara, were not just literally batting for the opposition, metaphorically they were too. Sarwan reacted with an equally well-worn line about McGrath's wife, who happened to be having treatment for cancer at the time.

The microphones at the stumps recorded McGrath screaming back: "If you ever ****ing mention my wife again, I will ****ing rip your ****ing throat out."

If McGrath's ploy was to put the batsman off his game it backfired.

But clearly, by the very fact they continue to do it and continue to dominate the sport, the Australians believe sledging works for them.

"Sledging can put up a barrier between your brain and your body," says Hadfield.

"In cricket, most of the time the fielding team sledges the batsman and batting is a tough mental battle anyway.

"If the batsman starts to think about what has been said it can take away from their ability to pick up visual cues early.

"This is what the sledgers want and are trying to initiate. It can even lead to muscle tension and a loss of timing.

"Leaving aside the ethical issue, I always ask people who sledge 'how does it work for you'?

"If they think it works for them, they carry on, but if they are not sure, I think it is best to not get involved."

Even though there have been many unpleasant incidents that have blighted cricket, sledging would be mourned should it ever be stamped out.

Amongst all the swearing and abuse a few gems come along every now and again. For example, tempers were getting more than a little frayed during the Ashes series in 1989. Australian wicketkeeper Tim Zoehrer and England's Phil Edmonds exchanged a few pleasantries while the latter was at the crease.

Things were getting steadily more abusive until Zoehrer got both Edmonds and his team-mates laughing when he said: "Well at least I have got an identity, you are just Frances Edmonds's husband."

It ranks up there with the time Australian pace bowler MervHughes clashed with JavedMiandad. The Pakistan captain was determined to show Hughes he could not be intimidated, so he called him a "fat bus conductor".

Much to Hughes's delight he was able to shout "tickets please" as he screamed a perfect delivery into the middle stump.

But the final word on sledging shall forever belong to the little known Zimbabwean batsman Eddo Brandes.

The rotund Brandes was testing the patience of McGrath by edging good length deliveries just past slip fielders.

Eventually when Brandes edged for four a ball he knew very little about, McGrath snapped.

"How come you are so fat?" he demanded to know of Brandes.

"Because every time I sleep with your wife, she gives me a biscuit," was the deadpan response.