In cricket, sledging (or chirping) is exchanging words with an opposition player which can put them off their usual game; it is an attempt to "psyche out" an opponent. It can lead to an unexpected decline in performance and is arguably not in the spirit of the game. It is most frequently used by wicketkeepers to batsmen at the striking end. The wicketkeeper usually talks to himself, but in a loud enough voice that the batsman can hear. Normally the wicketkeeper will talk about hypothetical bowling situations in which the batsmen is bowled. It is also common for the wicketkeeper to encourage the batsmen to attempt to slog the ball, a risky action which could lead to catches or clean bowls. Another frequently used device is to congratulate the bowler on his bowling which also is considered excellent at unnerving the batters.
Humour sledging is one of the funniest ones of the categories. Many examples of sledging are fondly remembered for their humour, either through a witty challenge, or a quick retort. The following examples have entered cricketing folklore. *Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh, to English batsman Ian Botham: "So how's your wife and my kids?" The reply "The wife's fine, the kids are retarded" *Australian Merv Hughes to Englishman Robin Smith: "Does your husband play cricket as well?" *Another incident involving Merv Hughes and Robin Smith. During a 1989 Lord's test Hughes said to Smith after Smith played and missed, "You can't fucking bat." Smith's reply after he hit Hughes for a boundary the next ball, "Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can't fucking bat and you can't fucking bowl." *1990 - Javed Miandad called Merv Hughes a fat bus conductor. Merv dismissed Miandad shortly afterwards, and called out "Tickets Please". * Merv Hughes & Viv Richards. During a test match in the West Indies, Hughes didn't say a word to Viv, but continued to stare at him after deliveries. Viv said "This is my island, my culture. Don't you be staring at me. In my culture we just bowl." Merv bowled him out soon after and replied "In my culture we just say fuck off." * Ian Healy to Arjuna Ranatunga when he called for a runner during a one day match: "You don't get a runner for being an overweight, unfit, fat cunt
!" * Mark Waugh standing at second slip, the new player Adam Parore comes to the crease playing and missing the first ball. Mark - "Ohh, I remember you from a couple years ago in Australia. You were shit then, you're fucking useless now". Parore- (Turning around) "Yeah, that's me and when I was there you were going out with that old, ugly slut and now I hear you've married her. You dumb cunt!" * Ravi Shastri v/s the aussie 12th man, Shastri hits it to this guy and looks for a single…this guy gets the ball in and says "if you leave the crease i'll break your fucking head" Shastri: "if you could bat as well as you can talk you wouldn't be the fucking 12th man" * Malcolm Marshall was bowling to David Boon who had played and missed a couple of times. Marshall : "Now David, Are you going to get out now or am I going to have to bowl around the wicket and kill you?" * Shane Warne when bowling against Arjuna Ranatunga wondered aloud what would draw him out of his crease. Wicketkeeper Ian Healy piped up,"Put a Mars Bar on a good length. That should do it." Ranatunga not to be out done believed to have said " Then i'm sure Boony here will get it before me" referring to David Boon who was fielding at first slip. * Mark Waugh to Jimmy Ormond coming out to bat in an Ashes match: "Mate, what are you doing out here, there's no way you're good enough to play for England." Ormond: "Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family." (Mark's twin brother Steve was captain of the team.) * Glenn McGrath to ZimbabweanEddo Brandes after Brandes had played and missed at a McGrath delivery: "Oi, Brandes, why are you so fucking fat?" to which Brandes replied: "Cos every time I fuck your wife she gives me a biscuit!" Apparently even the Australian slips were in hysterics. *Shane Warne (Australia) to Daryll Cullinan (South Africa): "I've been waiting two years to humiliate you again." Cullinan: "Looks like you spent the time eating." *Greg Thomas, a Glamorganfast bowler, thundered in and beat Vivian Richards's bat. "It's red and it's round. Can't you see it?" the bowler taunted. The next ball was precisely the same; pitching three quarters of length on middle and off, seaming away, and once again Richards was comprehensively beaten. "It's red and it's round and it weighs four-and-a-half ounces. Can't you see it?", Greg Thomas quipped. The next delivery was right in the slot, and Viv smashed the ball out of the ground and straight into the river that flowed around it. The batsman then said to the bowler: "You know what it looks like... go get it!" *In the 1996 Cricket World Cup quarter-final encounter between Indian cricket team and Pakistani cricket team, Pakistani batsman Aamer Sohail hit Venkatesh Prasad through a vacant area of the field for four runs. Sohail pointed at Prasad, and then to the vacant area, as if to tell Prasad that since there were no fielders there, he (Prasad) should retrieve the ball himself. The next delivery, Prasad bowled Sohail. As Sohail left the pitch, Prasad pointed him to the pavilion. (Video) *Aamer Sohail was also involved in another famous incident. In the 1980s Ian Botham returned early from a tour of Pakistan, and on radio joked "Pakistan is the sort of country to send your mother in-law to." Needless to say the Pakistanis did not find this amusing, and when Pakistan defeated England in the 1992 World Cup Final, Aamer Sohail told Ian Botham "Why don't you send your mother-in-law out to play, she cannot do much worse." *There have also been instances of teammates sledging each other. One very famous incident involved Fred Trueman and Raman Subba Row. England were playing Pakistan and, at what turned out to be a crucial moment later on, Trueman managed to get an outside edge off a Pakistani batsman after the batsman had been frustrating them on a hot sweaty day. The ball went right through the hands of Raman Subba Rao who was standing in first slip and through his legs. After the over Raman heads over to the bowler and says, "Sorry Fred, I should've closed my legs." Fred Trueman, who didn't find any of this amusing, quipped back, "No, you bastard, your mother should have." *Gavaskar had decided to relinquish his opening position and come in at no 4 for that test. But, Malcolm Marshall fired out Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0/2. And he thought there would be less pressure! Viv Richards says "Man, it don't matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero." Gavaskar made 236* *New Zealand vs South Africa: Daryll Cullinan was batting, attempting a comeback from a complete bamboozling from Warne in earlier games. Cullinan played the first ball from Chris Harris very carefully back down the pitch, and keeper Parore yelled out "Well bowled Warnie!" *"Bomber" Wells, a spin bowler and great character, played for Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire. He used to bat at No.11 since one couldn't bat any lower. Of him, they used to paraphrase Compton's famous words describing an equally inept runner, "When he shouts 'YES' for a run, it is merely the basis for further negotiations!" Incidentally, Compton was no better. John Warr said, of Compton "He was the only person who would call you for a run and wish you luck at the same time." Anyway, when Wells played for Gloucs, he had an equally horrendous runner as the No.10. During a county match, horror of horrors.......both got injured. Both opted for runners when it was their turn to bat. Bomber played a ball on the off, called for a run, forgot he had a runner and ran himself. Ditto at the other end. In the melee, someone decided that a second run was on. Now we had *all four* running. Due to the confusion and constant shouts of "YES" "NO", eventually, all of them ran to the same end. At this point in time, the entire ground is rolling on the floor laughing their behinds out. One of the fielders - brave lad - stops laughing for a minute, picks the ball and throws down the wicket at the other end. Umpire Alec Skelding looks very seriously at the four and calmly informs them "One of you buggers is out. I don't know which. You decide and inform the bloody scorers!". (Incident described in "From the Pavilion End" by Harold "Dickie" Bird) *During the 1997 Ashes series, the English team decided not to sledge Steve Waugh as he revelled in a hostile atmosphere and sledging merely fuelled his adrenalin. Waugh arrived at the crease and soon realised this: 'OK, you're not talking to me are you? Well, I'll talk to myself then'. And he did, for 240 minutes in the first innings, and 382 minutes in the second.[1]
Psychological
Psychological sledging is seen as a way of getting under an opposing player's skin, and disrupting their concentration. Normally directed at batsmen, often by wicketkeepers and close in fielders, sometimes the tables can be turned... *2004 England's Andrew Flintoff, at slip, teased West Indies' tailender Tino Best for repeatedly trying to slogAshley Giles over the top for six, so Flintoff said: "Mind the Windows, Tino!", meaning the pavilion windows. Best charged out to meet the next ball, swung wildly at it (attempting a six), missed and was stumped by Geraint Jones, getting out and leaving Flintoff with a stitch. [2], Video *Kumar Sangakkara November 2003; to Gareth Batty, England's main spin bowler on tour; "Where's England's best spinner?". *Kumar Sangakkara to Shaun Pollock: "We don't complain when we lose away, man," ... "We don't cry like in Morocco [where Sri Lanka had beaten South Africa in the final of a one-day competition in August] and say 'this not our conditions, this is not our conditions' and go to the press conference and say the same. Fucking joke. If you win, be gracious, man. Otherwise it's shit. Graceful, man, graceful, Shaun. Learn it." *Kumar Sangakkara to Ashwell Prince: "Why don't your teammates eat with you Ashley? Don't they think your're good enough for them? Why don't they like you Ashwell, huh? What did you do?" after it transpired that Prince and other coloured players in the South African team were eating at a separate table to the white players in their team hotel. *Kumar Sangakkara to Andrew Hall:"Where's the attitude now? Where's the arrogance and the attitude now, huh? Are you guys rattled now? Eh? Doubting yourself, man? Self-doubt, man, eh?" *Kumar Sangakkara to Harbhajan Singh: "Bhaji you look good in your short sleeves why dont you wear them when you bowl too? " referring to Harbhajan's bowling action that had just been reported to the ICC for chucking. *2005: South Africa batsman Justin Kemp was facing a string of beautiful deliveries from Shane Warne, so much that Warne started calling Kemp 'Daryll' (referring to Daryll Cullinan who was tortured by Warne's bowling throughout his career).
Tasteless
At the bottom end of the acceptability scale, the following style of sledging is condemned even by those who advocate the practice. Players caught using this style of tactic, will risk hefty fines or suspension, although they can be effective in upsetting the opponent. *1993 - The Australian slip cordon allegedly greeted New Zealand batsman Chris Cairns with a chant of "Choo Choo" after his sister had just been killed in a train accident. *2003 - Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath chided West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan "so, what does Brian Lara's dick taste like?" Sarwan replied "I don't know, ask your wife." McGrath lost his temper and yelled "If you ever fucking mention my wife again, I will fucking rip your fucking throat out!" (McGrath was upset because his wife had just been diagnosed with cancer) *2004 - Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was alleged to have called Ronnie Irani's mother a "whore". *2001 - ZimbabweanGrant Flower played a shot against Australia which just evaded the fielders and scored some runs. Australian bowler Shane Warne's reaction, which was made almost directly into the stump microphones and heard on national television: "You fuckin' arsey cunt!"
Myth
*1999 - Perhaps the most famous sledge is reported to have taken place during the epic World Cup Super Six clash between Australia and South Africa. South Africa looked on course to a routine victory with Australian captain Steve Waugh at the crease and on 56. At that stage, Waugh clipped the ball in the air straight to South African fielder Herschelle Gibbs. In his haste, Gibbs dropped the ball when attempting to throw it in the air in celebration as he had not fully controlled it. As he passed him, Waugh is said to have asked Gibbs: "How does it feel to have dropped the World Cup?". Waugh carried on to make an unbeaten 120 and Australia posted an unlikely win and won the World Cup a few days later. Waugh has denied that quote, instead claiming that he said "looks like you've dropped the match". * 1999 - It was alleged that Shane Warne uttered the words "can't bowl, can't throw" in respect of team mate Scott Muller's cricketing ability during second test Australia vs Pakistan in Hobart. Warne denied using the words and shortly after the event, a channel 9 camera man named Joe admitted to making the comment. Scott Muller was still adamant that Warne made the comments.
Because cricket is an international sport with a wide variety of cultures involved, opinions on sledging can differ considerably, leading to many cultural misunderstandings and controversies.
English
Traditionally sledging was seen as a prime example of a practice that was "Not Cricket", and was generally looked down upon as ungentlemanly. Mild forms of sledging would take place in the English game, but personal attacks were seen as unacceptable. In recent years, English cricket has adopted a more Australasian competitive streak, and sledging has become more commonplace.
Australasian
In Australian and New Zealand culture, sledging is seen as fair game, and part of masculine discourse. Adult males commonly insult each other as part of social relations, particularly in sport, with the proviso that "What's said on the pitch stays on the pitch". Two sports players may thus insult each other on a cricket field, and then have a beer afterwards and be the best of friends. In this cultural context, sledging is not seen as a big deal, and those who complain about it are derided as immature and unmasculine.
Southern African
WhiteSouth African and Zimbabwean society are very similar to Australian and New Zealand society in this context, and inter team sledging can be conducted in a humorous manner (see the McGrath-Brandes inicident above and the resulting reaction). However one big difference in the Southern African context is the sensitivity to racism - racist sledges are seen as quite unacceptable, to a greater degree than say Australia.
West Indian
West Indian have been known to hold their own in witty sledges with western teams. (see Viv Richard's and Sarwan's examples above). However any inkling of racial, or cultural slights can be interpreted very negatively.
South Asian
South Asian societies such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have a very strong concept of politeness and keeping face. Personal insults are seen as boorish and uneducated. When cricket was first introduced to the westernised elites of South Asian society, these groups adopted the concepts of fair play in the traditional English sense when playing cricket. Players raised in such a cricketing subculture consequently found it hard to accept, or handle sledging in the Australasian fashion. Many controversies have arisen out of these very different cultural prisms. In recent years however South Asian teams have become adept at sledging in their own fashion, notably Sri Lanka, which has used Australian coaches and coaching methods since the mid 1990s. (Note the examples of wicketkeeping sledges by Kumar Sangakarra above, who is renowned as being able to get under the skin of opposing batsmen.) Western commentators have often challenged South Asian teams on their supposed claims of sledging innocence, pointing at the common on field use of Hindi and Urdu phrases that neither other players nor umpires can understand.
Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Indian team in the early 2000s, decided to give the Australians a taste of their own tasteless sledging in the 2000-2001 series. His encounters with the then Australian captain, Steve Waugh, were particularly played up both in the Indian and the Australian media, so much so that he was referred to as the bad boy of international cricket in the Australian media.
While sledging is probably most well-known within cricket, it also happens in other sports, notably rugby and, it appears, within soccer. The Zidane incident at the final of the 2006 World Cup appears to rival the instances within cricket, but on an even bigger stage. Baseball also offers opportunities for similar comments between batter and catcher: Rod Marsh's famous "How's your wife and my kids?" to Ian Botham was used in the 1989 US baseball movie Major League as just such a remark. [3]
