BCCI to ask for ban on sledging

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, sledging is such a hard thing to decide upon.

I remember playing in a game when my captain decided that an opposition batsman looked like Richie Cunningham . The entire time he batted (which wasn't too long ) he was subject to comments and Happy Days references. He didnt like it and it affected his game and pissed him off far more than if he was called "a ****ing ****".

Id like to see the complaint to the umpire, "Mr. Umpire Id like to make a complaint. He *points finger* says I look like Ron Howard."

Its certainly not using abusive language and IMO, suck it up and deal with it.

Yep, exactly. Sledging isn't just about abuse, it's abouttaking the batsman's mind off what he should be worried about i.e. batting. Standing there swearing at some punter is rarely all that effective because most people will just laugh it off. The Richie Cunningham-type effect you mentioned above is more common. Another great example of a great sledge is Kumar Sangakkara's famous one against Shaun Pollock (who, ironically, also looks like Richie Cunningham....); it was so effective not because he was swearing at Pollock but because what he was saying was absolutely true and would have made Pollock feel it too. No abuse there, yet was a way more effective sledge than if Pollock arrived at the crease and he said "You suck, Shaun." or worse. This is the sort of stuff which make the issue complex; it's not offensive but it's far more distracting for the batsman.

If anything, the best guys at intimidation weren't the blokes who said a lot, body language has a lot to do with it. A bloke like Merv Hughes swearing at you and a bloke like Brett Lee doing it create entirely different impressions; Brett Lee is too pretty for anyone to be intimidated by that whereas Merv looked like he would go you. The big, aggressive blokes like Nel do get targeted more for that reason too. Brett Lee just flashes those pearly whites at the umpires and all is forgotten, I bet. Make no mistake, though; Lee says just as much as anyone. Has he ever even been reported?

 

[silentstriker]

Yep, exactly. Sledging isn't just about abuse, it's abouttaking the batsman's mind off what he should be worried about i.e. batting. Standing there swearing at some punter is rarely all that effective because most people will just laugh it off. The Richie Cunningham-type effect you mentioned above is more common. Another great example of a great sledge is Kumar Sangakkara's famous one against Shaun Pollock (who, ironically, also looks like Richie Cunningham....); it was so effective not because he was swearing at Pollock but because what he was saying was absolutely true and would have made Pollock feel it too. No abuse there, yet was a way more effective sledge than if Pollock arrived at the crease and he said "You suck, Shaun." or worse. This is the sort of stuff which make the issue complex; it's not offensive but it's far more distracting for the batsman.

If anything, the best guys at intimidation weren't the blokes who said a lot, body language has a lot to do with it. A bloke like Merv Hughes swearing at you and a bloke like Brett Lee doing it create entirely different impressions; Brett Lee is too pretty for anyone to be intimidated by that whereas Merv looked like he would go you. The big, aggressive blokes like Nel do get targeted more for that reason too. Brett Lee just flashes those pearly whites at the umpires and all is forgotten, I bet. Make no mistake, though; Lee says just as much as anyone. Has he ever even been reported?

Well, players have no one but themselves to blame. They took it too far, and now they have to deal with it. I hope so much that BCCI really push this hard and this passes.

 

[SJS]

Yep, exactly. Sledging isn't just about abuse, it's abouttaking the batsman's mind off what he should be worried about i.e. batting. Standing there swearing at some punter is rarely all that effective because most people will just laugh it off.

Thats a very valid point.

And I am not sure, as a follower of the game I am happy with that. I want to witness the greatest contests between bat and ball. A MvGrath, a Warne, a Bond, a Lillee, A Murali trying to dislodge a Gavaskaer, a Richards, a Lara or a Tendulkar from the crease. Thats the stuff one loves to watch and I want these great bowlers and these equally great batsmen to be at their very best and focussed on the job of attacking each other.

Any distraction other than that achieved with a great ball or a great shot is completely undesirable if it reduces that focus. As undesirable as those stupid Indian policemen constantly moving behind sight screens.

 

[Engle]

Exactly. What does sledging do for the paying public ? Nothing !
In fact, it deteriorates the game by lowering the quality of play.

If I wanted to hear someone yapping their big mouths off, I'd go to a political gathering, not a cricket match

 

[Top_Cat]

Exactly. What does sledging do for the paying public ? Nothing !
In fact, it deteriorates the game by lowering the quality of play.

If I wanted to hear someone yapping their big mouths off, I'd go to a political gathering, not a cricket match

Depends on what else is happening but I personally love the contest between two guys going at each other, as much a contest between two personalities as bat and ball. Shoaib's bowling to Michael Slater a few years ago was something else, the highlight for me of a summer full of highlights. If silence was the order of the day, the entertainment value of cricket would deteriorate for me.

 

[Top_Cat]

Well, players have no one but themselves to blame. They took it too far, and now they have to deal with it. I hope so much that BCCI really push this hard and this passes.

I dispute that they took it too far, to be honest; I think what we're seeing is a sanitised version of what used to happen. The situation used to be far worse and I think anyone on the board who played even grade cricket in Australia in the 90's would back me up. Goughy?

 

[social]

I dispute that they took it too far, to be honest; I think what we're seeing is a sanitised version of what used to happen. The situation used to be far worse and I think anyone on the board who played even grade cricket in Australia in the 90's would back me up. Goughy?

Yup and 80s was worse again

Many players from the 80s thought you "had" to sledge to win.

This was a hangover from watching their heroes perform under the Chappell brothers (who were as badly behaved as anybody).

 

[silentstriker]

I dispute that they took it too far, to be honest

*SHRUG*, I guess we'll agree to disagree. No idea what things were like in Australia, but from former players, it wasn't as bad on the international circuit in the 1980s and before.

 

[Top_Cat]

*SHRUG*, I guess we'll agree to disagree. No idea what things were like in Australia, but from former players, it wasn't as bad on the international circuit in the 1980s and before.

Mostly my own experience and having spoken to players who played grade/FC cricket in the 80's. Must be an Aussie thing.

 

[silentstriker]

Mostly my own experience and having spoken to players who played grade/FC cricket in the 80's. Must be an Aussie thing.

Well, the Australian game has always been played slightly differently than everyone else.

 

[Top_Cat]

Well, the Australian game has always been played slightly differently than everyone else.

Says the bloke with Fred Trueman as his avatar.

 

[Dusty Lee]

A MvGrath, a Warne, a Bond, a Lillee, A Murali trying to dislodge a Gavaskaer, a Richards, a Lara or a Tendulkar from the crease.

If I was a bowler I'm not sure I would want sledge these batsmen as it could have and adverse affect as any of the above mentioned names if stirred into anger could punish you very severely and very quickley. I think maybe sledging is aimed at the lesser batsmen, aimed by the weak at the weak perhaps.

Though love or hate sledging some of the funniest quotes come from it. Doesn't bother me either way. I'm not sure what India are worried about, I think they give as good as they get at the moment, especially with messers Harbhajan and Sreesanth.

 

[Sanz]

Biggest myth. They're adults here, not children. Scolding them won't work, they'll just find another way to do it. This is why an outfight ban on sledging won't work. Aussies will start using rhyming slang to denigrate an opponent, players from non-English-speaking countries will speak in their native tongue, etc.

Most crimes are committed by adults, so we should never have punishments for anything in life. I know sledging cant be compared to criminal activities but the above logic that 'players are not children' doesn't sound very convincing to me.

Also, who talked about language stuff, it is not too difficult to figure out what was said in a native language. Next time Harbhajan says 'Maa Ki..' I want him banned for 10 games. It

 

[Johnners]

100% agree with everything T_C & Goughy have said.

 

[Top_Cat]

Also, who talked about language stuff, it is not too difficult to figure out what was said in a native language. Next time Harbhajan says 'Maa Ki..' I want him banned for 10 games. It

I dunno about any of the other Aussie/non-Indian posters but I had never heard of Maa Ki (is it offensive to even write it like this?) before the recent blow-up. A bowler could be clamly telling me in Hindi, Urdu or Afrikaans that they'd want to rape my mother and if they smiled whilst saying it or were otherwise unemotional, I'd be without a clue. So I'm afraid I must disagree that it's not too difficult to pick up.

This is what makes it so difficult for the on-field umpire to police it; if your brain is unacustomed to certain phrases because, for example, it's in another language, no-one will pick it up. Also, how far does it go? If all sledging is banned, do we then look to punish intimidation of any sort? I'm a pretty big bloke and I once walked down the deck after beating a batsman outside off-stump and stood there staring at him, covered in sweat, no more than a foot away with the meanest look I could muster. I whispered to him "If you don't get your foot to the pitch of the ball, you'll nick one eventually. Try to do more prep in my delivery stride". Next couple of balls beat him again and then I eventually bowled him, clearly he was shaken up. In the huddle, everyone was asking what I said and of course, no-one believed me when I told them. They all assumed I'd abused him. Spoke to his team-mates in post-match drinks and they told me he wasn't comign anywhere near me because he was afraid I was going to thump him.

Now if I had abused him, it probably would have been far less effective. So what's more right or wrong? Nothing abusive about what I said but the lead-up and the way I said it could be interpreted as intimidatory. If you want to rid the game of 'unfair' play, well, which is more unfair?

 

[silentstriker]

Says the bloke with Fred Trueman as his avatar.

It wasn't meant as criticism.

 

[silentstriker]

Now if I had abused him, it probably would have been far less effective. So what's more right or wrong? Nothing abusive about what I said but the lead-up and the way I said it could be interpreted as intimidatory. If you want to rid the game of 'unfair' play, well, which is more unfair?

I don't think BCCI is banning intimidation. Just verbal sledging. WI were famous for saying absolutely nothing, and intimidating everyone.

 

[adharcric]

**** no. Exactly mirror Goughy's views earlier in the thread.

 

[silentstriker]

To me, if they act like six year olds, they get treated like six year olds.

 

[Sanz]

I dunno about any of the other Aussie/non-Indian posters but I had never heard of Maa Ki (is it offensive to even write it like this?) before the recent blow-up. A bowler could be clamly telling me in Hindi, Urdu or Afrikaans that they'd want to rape my mother and if they smiled whilst saying it or were otherwise unemotional, I'd be without a clue. So I'm afraid I must disagree that it's not too difficult to pick up.

This is what makes it so difficult for the on-field umpire to police it; if your brain is unacustomed to certain phrases because, for example, it's in another language, no-one will pick it up. Also, how far does it go? If all sledging is banned, do we then look to punish intimidation of any sort? I'm a pretty big bloke and I once walked down the deck after beating a batsman outside off-stump and stood there staring at him, covered in sweat, no more than a foot away with the meanest look I could muster. I whispered to him "If you don't get your foot to the pitch of the ball, you'll nick one eventually. Try to do more prep in my delivery stride". Next couple of balls beat him again and then I eventually bowled him, clearly he was shaken up. In the huddle, everyone was asking what I said and of course, no-one believed me when I told them. They all assumed I'd abused him. Spoke to his team-mates in post-match drinks and they told me he wasn't comign anywhere near me because he was afraid I was going to thump him.

Now if I had abused him, it probably would have been far less effective. So what's more right or wrong? Nothing abusive about what I said but the lead-up and the way I said it could be interpreted as intimidatory. If you want to rid the game of 'unfair' play, well, which is more unfair?

'Maa Ki..' itself doesn't mean much but the words followed by it are what change the meaning and yes it is that bad that I wouldn't like this sort of language going on in the field. I dont care if it is understood by the opposition or not. The fact that this sort of language should not be part of a game is enough for it to be banned.

The fact is that if we used this kind of language in our professional life, we wouldn't survive a minute, IMO cricket should be no different. Any player using this sort of filthy language should be kicked out of any form of cricket for a good 6 months.