The beginning of the end for sledging?

[SirBloody Idiot]

Put me into the anti- column; don't think sledging can or should be banned. If something is said on-field that is offensive, let the onus be on the person offended to report it then deal with it as per the process. For the record I've never sledged anyone in my life (I preferred the Jeff Thomson approach of not saying anything to keep the batsman guessing whether I was mad a them) but real life is not sledge-free, neither should be sport.

It's moot anyway. Impossible to actually ban or Police correctly.

Exactly - are you going to ban someone for making a clever remark about how someone is batting? Do we want this game to be absolutely silent?

**** off we do.

And I also can't believe Hogg calling someone a bastard is even going to the match referee - are we going to ban people every time they say the f-word on the field, now?

 

[shortpitched713]

Is Australia still playing in Perth or have we suspended the tour until further notice?

I think at this crucial juncture Australia will keep all options on the table, and yes that does include the military option.

 

[shortpitched713]

are we going to ban people every time they say the f-word on the field, now?

Ummmm.... yes.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Ummmm.... yes.

Don't quite see the need for the rolling of the eyes.

 

[Johnners]

Sledging will never stop, and in any case, as TC said, it would be nigh on impossible to police correctly. IMO The question should be, "Should there be a crack down on abusive sledging?" in which case I'd say yes. It's quite obvious that atm, whilst there are rules in place to supposedly deter it, they aren't doing much deterring (is that even a word?). Encourage players to report it, and make the punishments worthwhile, it'll soon put a stop to all the crap that goes on. Trying to stop meaningless banter (See Flintoff v. Bravo/Best, or Sanga on Pollock) is ridiculous, and would indeed have a detrimental effect on the game, and should never be discouraged.

 

[shortpitched713]

Don't quite see the need for the rolling of the eyes.

The eyes. They rolled. Get over it.

And you're the one complaining about not being able to use the f-word.



Fact of the matter is I don't see whats so great about something like using the f-word that it should be preserved on the cricket field. Its definitely not acceptable behavior in a vast majority of professional settings, including sporting ones, where you're most likely to get physical retaliation if not then the threat of physical retaliation at the very least.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

The eyes. They rolled. Get over it.

And you're the one complaining about not being able to use the f-word.



Fact of the matter is I don't see whats so great about something like using the f-word that it should be preserved on the cricket field. Its definitely not acceptable behavior in a vast majority of professional settings, including sporting ones, where you're most likely to get physical retaliation if not then the threat of physical retaliation at the very least.

Discounting that ridiculously hilarious use of sarcasm you started with, no - I've not said anything about the f-word being 'great.' Merely, if you try to suspend every single player that says **** on the cricket field you open up a whole new can of worms.

Yes - one should face trouble if they say 'you are a ****ing **** and your kids look like ****ing ****s as well' but if you are going to impose sanctions on someone every time they swear then you are wasting your time. I can't even believe Hogg calling someone a bastard would even come under scrutiny - the only reason it was reported was because the Indians decided to be petty after Harbhajan was rightly reported.

What's next? Ban the phrases 'bugger,' 'damn' and 'Jesus Christ?'

 

[Top_Cat]

What's next? Ban the phrases 'bugger,' 'damn' and 'Jesus Christ?'

And lets' not forget, spitting in general will be banned when robots start playing the game because they find the ejection of biological material offensive, according to Futurama.

 

[silentstriker]

but real life is not sledge-free, neither should be sport.

I can't go around sledging people at work.

 

[silentstriker]

Yes - one should face trouble if they say 'you are a ****ing **** and your kids look like ****ing ****s as well' but if you are going to impose sanctions on someone every time they swear then you are wasting your time. I can't even believe Hogg calling someone a bastard would even come under scrutiny - the only reason it was reported was because the Indians decided to be petty after Harbhajan was rightly reported.

What's next? Ban the phrases 'bugger,' 'damn' and 'Jesus Christ?'

Again, I ask: who decides what's offensive and what should be banned? Should we go by the Aussie culture? Indian culture? West Indies? They all have different ideas on acceptable language. Monkey is racist and should undoubtedly be banned, but who decides what else is bad?

 

[Top_Cat]

I can't go around sledging people at work.

Never worked for the Police, have you? Anyway, you sure? Depends on what you define as a sledge perhaps. If it includes swearing, sure I could believe that. But you're telling me you can't have sly little email or verbal digs at people who, for example, didn't do the job you asked them to do or if they've gone behind your back and taken credit for work you've done? I don't think Aussies are unique in sly little digs at people, in jest or not.

Plus, work is only a small part of your life. You never 'sledge' your family? If not, try it. It's fun, especially when everyone gets in on it!

Again, I ask: who decides what's offensive and what should be banned? Should we go by the Aussie culture? Indian culture? West Indies? They all have different ideas on acceptable language. Monkey is racist and should undoubtedly be banned, but who decides what else is bad?

That's what the hearing would be for and you'd hope in most countries, for such rare occasions as hearings of this nature, people knowledgeable enough about what's appropriate in certain cultures could be found, even to advise in a general sense. One thing for certain is this; blanket bans simply don't work and trying to find a solution is a far more constructive track.

 

[silentstriker]

Never worked for the Police, have you? Anyway, you sure? Depends on what you define as a sledge perhaps. If it includes swearing, sure I could believe that. But you're telling me you can't have sly little email or verbal digs at people who, for example, didn't do the job you asked them to do or if they've gone behind your back and taken credit for work you've done? I don't think Aussies are unique in sly little digs at people, in jest or not.

No, at work, I can't call people I barely know '****ing bastards' or 'monkey', or whatever else. If its someone I am friends with,I can. But modern cricketers from opposing countries, especially Asian vs. Non-Asian countries are rarely close outside of cricket. Allan Border and his team started that trend. If I call someone I don't know names like that at work, I'd get fired on the spot.

Plus, work is only a small part of your life. You never 'sledge' your family? If not, try it. It's fun, especially when everyone gets in on it!

If cricketers knew each other as family and the digs were in good humor, we wouldn't be having this problem.

 

[NZTailender]

Massive overreactions by some people. There's a massive difference between banter and sledging. Mindless sledging is terrible and should be clamped down upon. There's no need for it.

 

[silentstriker]

Never worked for the Police, have you? Anyway, you sure? Depends on what you define as a sledge perhaps. If it includes swearing, sure I could believe that. But you're telling me you can't have sly little email or verbal digs at people who, for example, didn't do the job you asked them to do or if they've gone behind your back and taken credit for work you've done? I don't think Aussies are unique in sly little digs at people, in jest or not.

Plus, work is only a small part of your life. You never 'sledge' your family? If not, try it. It's fun, especially when everyone gets in on it!



That's what the hearing would be for and you'd hope in most countries, for such rare occasions as hearings of this nature, people knowledgeable enough about what's appropriate in certain cultures could be found, even to advise in a general sense. One thing for certain is this; blanket bans simply don't work and trying to find a solution is a far more constructive track.

No, at work, I can't call people I barely know '****ing bastards' or 'monkey', or whatever else. If its someone I am friends with,I can. But modern cricketers from opposing countries, especially Asian vs. Non-Asian countries are rarely close outside of cricket. Allan Border and his team started that trend. If I call someone I don't know names like that at work, I'd get fired on the spot.



If cricketers knew each other as family and the digs were in good humor, we wouldn't be having this problem.

And if they were close like it is with friends and family, they wouldn't call it 'mental disintegration'.

 

[Top_Cat]

No, at work, I can't call people I barely know '****ing bastards' or 'monkey', or whatever else. If its someone I am friends with,I can. But modern cricketers from opposing countries, especially Asian vs. Non-Asian countries are rarely close outside of cricket. Allan Border and his team started that trend. If I call someone I don't know names like that at work, I'd get fired on the spot.

I think I see a misunderstanding between us here; why does sledging have to be limited to name-calling? It comes in many forms and an attempt to ban them all is somewhat optimistic at best.

For example; Harhajan edges two balls over slips off Lee who then tells him he's the worst batsman he's ever seen. That's sledging but not name-calling as such. Should that be banned?

 

[silentstriker]

I think I see a misunderstanding between us here; why does sledging have to be limited to name-calling? It comes in many forms and an attempt to ban them all is somewhat optimistic at best.

For example; Harhajan edges two balls over slips off Lee who then tells him he's the worst batsman he's ever seen. That's sledging but not name-calling as such. Should that be banned?

Fair point, I was referring to name calling and abusive language. My rule would be to turn the stump mic to full and if they say something that would be inappropriate for the audience to hear, then its inappropriate to say. And once players get slammed by the public, or start losing endorsement, or get in trouble in general for being crass and stupid, it'll weed itself out.

 

[Top_Cat]

I tell a lie, I have sledged one bloke before. In a OD game, he nicked one behind off me (bigger than Andy Symonds' nick) and was deemed not out. Only on about 10 at the time, was the culmination of a plan I'd been working on and thought it had worked. Ah well, too bad so sad. I finish my spell and he proceeds to belt the living daylights out of the rest of the bowlers. I come back on when he's about 120 not with a few overs to go.

He hits one off me to the sweeper in the off-side hard and the sweeper stops the boundary but spilts the webbing in his hand doing it. He's on the ground holding his hand for a while as team mates come up to assist. Batsman says "Come on guys, get on with the game. What's the matter, afraid to bowl at me?" I say "Don't get ****y, you shouldn't still be out here. Besides, he's really hurt himself" He swears a few times at me and I proceed to bounce the living crap out of him for the rest of my spell.

Who do you punish and who stepped over the line? The way I saw it, I was just bringing a wanker back into line.

 

[silentstriker]

Batsman says "Come on guys, get on with the game. What's the matter, afraid to bowl at me?" I say "Don't get ****y, you shouldn't still be out here. Besides, he's really hurt himself" He swears a few times at me and I proceed to bounce the living crap out of him for the rest of my spell.

Who do you punish and who stepped over the line? The way I saw it, I was just bringing a wanker back into line.

He did when he swore. The rest would be fine on a stump mic. Because which swears are offensive and over the line? The difference is magnifed in the international arena because you're dealing with a lot of cultures. Otherwise, you tell me which cultural norms we should accept which we should reject?

 

[Top_Cat]

Fair point, I was referring to name calling and abusive language. My rule would be to turn the stump mic to full and if they say something that would be inappropriate for the audience to hear, then its inappropriate to say. And once players get slammed by the public, or start losing endorsement, or get in trouble in general for being crass and stupid, it'll weed itself out.

Ah but again, I think you may be being too optimistic. If it's found that everyone does it, it might go the opposite way and become the norm and therefore 'acceptable'. Same with swearing on TV in general. In the 80's, anything more than damn was off-limits. Now with shows like *** and the CIty using the F and C words fairly regularly, many other shows are following suit. What is merely an explicit *** scene was porn years ago. The main factor, I believe, behind these levels of acceptance is their ubiquity. Imagine if it's found that all cricketers are as bad as each other? Deep down most people suspect it I'm sure. I honestly believe that if we heard everything out there, we'd be shocked initially but quickly it'd be old news. Nothing is shocking if 'everyone does it', even less if that is actually confirmed.

 

[Top_Cat]

He did when he swore. The rest would be fine on a stump mic. Because which swears are offensive and over the line? The difference is magnifed in the international arena because you're dealing with a lot of cultures. Otherwise, you tell me which cultural norms we should accept which we should reject?

Well, ideally, none of course. I don't think it's a huge task to allow for as many as possible in hearings too, cultural consultants or what have you.

If I had to be honest, I found his inference that we were afraid to bowl at him, that he was entitled to still be batting and that he didn't want to recognise the seriousness of my team-mate's injury far more offensive than any swearing he used.