Sledging - Cricket's inevitable truth

Michael Clarke did not mince his words in letting Anderson know what he should expect at Gabba in Ashes 2013

One of the most distinctive features of Cricket is that it requires patience, a virtue of a gentleman. Also unlike boxing, rugby or even football sometimes, cricket is not a contact sport. These are perhaps the reasons why Cricket has traditionally been known as a gentleman’s game.

But when the chosen ones represent their country to battle it out on the cricket field, where winning means so much to players and fans alike, emotions are bound to run high and the absence of physicality leaves sledging as the only form of manifestation of frustration. Call it friendly banter, intimidation or mental disintegration, as Steve Waugh would put it, sledging has always been an integral part of cricket.

It is believed to have been around ever since the game was first played in the 19th century, but in this age of modern-day cameras and stump microphones, the issue of sledging has come to the fore like never before.

Sledging is believed to be done to create uncertainty, doubt and anger in the opposition player’s mind, prevent him from thinking rationally; in short to disrupt his concentration and cause him to commit a fallacy. This tactic works in many cases.

There are ample examples in the past, where the batsmen have lost their concentration due to constant chirping from the bowler or close-in fielders and given away their wickets.

The ability of players to handle sledging differs. Some fall prey to the tactic, while some like Rahul Dravid simply choose to ignore it altogether. Worse, it can sometimes prove to be counterproductive. It can spur the opposition to concentrate harder and channel their anger into performance, thus defeating the very purpose of it all.

A famous example is that between the legendary Sir Vivian Richards and English county bowler Greg Thomas. In one of the matches, Thomas was bowling to Richards and getting a few to whizz past the bat. After Richards played and missed another one, Thomas said, "It's red, it's round. Now effing hit it!" This angered Richards who proceeded to hit the next ball out of the ground and said, "You know what it looks like, now go and get it."

There are two unspoken rules however, in the inner cricket sanctum. The first says that ‘Sledging does not get personal’ but this has been far from true in many a case in the past. In the heat of the moment, players sometimes go overboard and the so called sledging takes the form of personal verbal abuse.

West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and Australian pacer Glenn McGrath would know a thing or two about it. Sarwan had allegedly said something about McGrath’s wife, which, for obvious reasons, did not go down well with him.

The second unspoken rule says ‘What happens on the field of Cricket stays there’. The recent Jadeja-Anderson spat is a case in point where it was needlessly flouted. That the episode reached a stage where hearings took place and the tour was on the verge of being called off was a shame.

Some may argue that sledging is needless but haven’t there been so many famous incidents in the past that have become a part of cricketing folklore and are still fresh in our minds even after decades?

Don’t we like to watch all those again and again on YouTube? My take is that sledging was, is and should always be an integral part of Cricket. It makes Cricket what it is, as much a mind game as a physical sport.