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The Aussies have just returned from
India and have left behind a trail of sledging ‘incidents’ that linger in
the minds of everyone. It is a well known fact that sledging, as an art
has been perfected by the Aussies more than any other team. This is one
fatal armour that they employ against oppositions, when everything else
has failed!
Nevertheless sledging has an
interesting history behind it and even today it forms an integral part of
the game. No one actually knows when sledging started, but since time
immemorial disparaging remarks have been part of the sport in general –
and cricket in particular. There si a hypothesis that sledging has evolved
out of the off cuff remarks that transpired between the players and even
umpires on the field. As the character of the game changed, these remarks
became more aggressive and distasteful. We take a look at some of the
incidents that definitely have the attribute of wit and humour rather than
bare intimidation.
There is a legend called “Yabba” in
the Australian cricket folklore, who sat in the outer as an onlooker, and
kept on yelling encouragements and insults at the players in the field.
One of the most interesting anecdotes regarding “Yabba” is that once a
batsman was playing and he kept missing the ball all through in a session
of a test match. Unable to withstand this drudgery anymore Yabba yelled,”
Bowl the bastard a grand Piano and see if he can play that instead!”
Another instance of this character was
when he made a remark to the unpopular Douglas Jardine during a Test
match. Jardine was brushing away the flies during a bat session of a Test
match when Yabba in his witty way remarked,” Oye Jardine, keep your bloody
hands of our flies.”
The Grand Old Man of cricket, Sir W G
Grace was an expert in things other than cricket as well and he
demonstrated his ability in ample amount. Some experts consider him to be
a habitual cheater and he used to fool the umpires and bowlers with his
remarks. There are a lot of stories associated with him. A very popular
one has it that he was out rather early in his innings, he walked to the
bowler and said,” The people have came to see me bat and not to see you
ball”, and continued to bat. But another time, and he met his match. When
his bails were felled by a delivery; he calmly picked up the bails and
replacing them, remarked to the umpire “windy today, isn’t it?” Where upon
the umpire raising his index finger shot back, “Yes, but I’m not and you
are out.”
This banter was not only restricted to
the field, but off it too. There was a player called David Shepherd (not
our beloved umpire) who was also a parson with a large parish. After a
test match, in which he dropped as many catches as he could, he was called
on to officiate in a christening ceremony. There when he was holding the
baby the father remarked,” I am a bit worried about your dropping my baby
in the font given the sort of form you’ve been in this week.”
Coming back to the present, the
sledging has turned more and more nasty and the taste surely has gone
down. But these witty remarks can still be found sometimes occasionally.
When Merv Hughes, the thick mustachioed Aussie was bowling a great spell
to Robin Smith of England and kept beating him outside his off stump Merv
walked down to Smith after every delivery and gave him a free opinion on
his batting, which he felt was nothing but rubbish. After a while Robin
played a beautiful cover-drive off him on a full-pitched ball. Then Smith
walked up to him and retorted,” We are a right pair, aren’t we Merv? I
can’t bat and you can’t bowl.”
Tit for tat as one may call it. Viv
Richards was a party to an interesting incident. He was known for his
aggressive hitting and used to go for the leather right from the word go.
During his stint with Somerset, he was repeatedly beaten by fast bouncers
from an enthusiastic bowler. The bowler walked up to Richards and said, “
Mate if you can’t spot the ball, I’ll tell you what its like. It is read,
round and weighs five and a half ounce.“ As luck had it Richards blasted
the next ball out of the park, past the adjoining garden right into a
river. He retorted, “ Mate you know what the ball is like. Now go and find
it. “
When it comes to “sledging” or a
friendly banter, as you might call it, the Asian teams are known not to be
very good at it. But here too there have been certain cricketers who have
excelled at this variety of sport. The one that immediately comes to mind
is Javed Miandad, who with his chatter used to unnerve the opposition.
Once he kept on asking an Indian bowler about his room number while
batting and was told so. He hit a six after sometime and told him to get
the ball from the room.
But even this old pro was put in his
place by none other but our own chattering Kiran More who unnerved him in
the world cup 92’ match in Sydney at Australia, so much so that Javed
started hopping like a monkey as if the situation had become too hot to
handle then.
All said and done, one cannot deny
that some friendly banter is always welcome on the fields provided it does
not spill over-off the field but more importantly doesn’t go out of limit
and create tension. But who decides what’s the limit. If you want to play
it, you will have to be mentally tough. Do you agree? We would love to
hear from you. |
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