Sledging

Sledging is a term used in cricket to describe the practice whereby some players seek to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating the opposing batsman. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent's concentration, thereby causing him to make mistakes or underperform. It can be effective because the batsman stands within hearing range of the bowler and certain close fielders; and vice-versa. The insults may be direct or feature in conversations among fielders designed to be overheard.

There is debate in the cricketing world as to whether this constitutes poor sportsmanship or good-humoured banter.^[1] Sledging is often mistaken for abuse, and whilst comments aimed as sledges do sometimes cross the line into personal abuse, this is not usually the case. Sledging is usually simply an often humorous, sometimes insulting attempt at distraction. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh referred to the practice as 'mental disintegration'.

Origin

According to Ian Chappell, the use of "sledging" as a term originated at Adelaide Oval in either the 1963-1964 or 1964-1965 Sheffield Shield competition. Chappell claims that a cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman was said to have reacted to an incident "like a sledgehammer". As a result, the direction of insults or obscenities at opponents became known as "sledging".^[2] Despite the relatively recent coining of the term, the practice is as old as cricket itself, with historical accounts of witty banter between players being quite common.

According to the BBC’s Pat Murphy: “My understanding is that it came from the mid-sixties and a guy called Graham Calling, who used to open the bowling for New South Wales and Australia… apparently the suggestion was that this guy’s wife was [having an affair] with another team-mate, and when he came into bat [the fielding team] started singing When a Man Loves A Woman, the old Percy Sledge number.”^[3]

WG Grace

Former English batsman William Gilbert Grace who was one of England's best batsmen of the 19th century, was notorious for his humorous quips. On one occasion having been clean bowled, he stated: "Twas the wind which took thy bail orf [sic], good sir." The umpire replied: "Indeed, doctor, and let us hope thy wind helps the good doctor on thy journey back to the pavilion."^[4]

On another occasion he was out leg before wicket but refused to leave, claiming: "They came to watch me bat, not you bowl". However perhaps the best instance of sledging involving Grace was by bowler Charles Kortright. Repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to dismiss Grace by the umpire who refused to give him out, Kotright finally knocked two of Grace's stumps out of the ground. As Grace reluctantly began to return to the pavillion, Kotright farewelled him with: "Surely you're not going, doctor? There's still one stump standing."^[5]

Viv Richards

The great West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However in a county game against Glamorgan, Greg Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He asked Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering." Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it."^[6]

Merv Hughes

Sledging is common at most levels of the game in Australia, but one Australian with a particular reputation for sledging was former fast bowler Merv Hughes. His intimidating and aggressive bowling style was often accompanied by a mixture of humorous witticisms, and vitriolic abuse. On occasions he crossed the line from sledging to insulting. However there are numerous occasions of classic sledges delivered by Hughes.

On one such occasion, Hughes was bowling to Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad, who informed the overweight bowler he looked like "a fat bus conductor". The very next ball, Hughes bowled Miandad, screaming "tickets please!" as he ran to celebrate with team mates.

Harbhajan – Symonds incident (2007 - 2008)

Sledging came into the media spotlight during the 2007-08 Indian tour of Australia when Harbhajan Singh was accused of alleged racial abuse towards Andrew Symonds.^[7] The allegation was not proved and a proposed three-match ban on Harbhajan was lifted.^[8] He was instead charged with a Level 2.8 offence (abuse and insult not amounting to racism) to which he pleaded guilty and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees, although the Appeals Commissioner later noted that had he been aware of Harbajan's prior record, a one-Test ban would have been issued.^[9] Symonds admitted that it was he who started the abuse between the two players by using offensive language.^[10]

Other sports

Although the practice of trying to distract opponents by verbal abuse is common to virtually all sports, "sledging" per se relates to cricket. Other sports sometimes have their own terminology for verbal abuse: for example, basketball calls it trash talk.^[11]

References

Sources

• Lighter examples of sledging - BBC Sport
• The Age - Warne Sledge
• Sledging part of Latham's cricket days - The Melbourne Age
• The Corridor's sledging page