Sledging to be Banned*
The ICC has formally announced that sledging on the cricket field has now been banned* with immediate effect. The decision was arrived at after a thorough analysis of the indecent scene created by the Indian players during the One day international match against the Australians at the Sydney on 24th of February, 2008. The ban, of course, is subject to the following terms and conditions:
*Terms and Conditions apply
Terms and Conditions
With immediate effect, India should stop giving back to the Aussies in their own coin, else, strict action shall be taken against the offending players for violating the spirit of the game**.
Australia will continue to sledge whenever, wherever and howsoever they wish to. This will not be against the spirit of the game, but in fact be a part of the game. ‘Hard Cricket’, as the great ones call it.
Umpires will be neutral. However, as and when Ricky Ponting desires, he will interfere and ask the umpires to do as he wishes. This he will do in order to maintain the spirit of the game**.He may then go on and say to the press, “These are minor issues and happen on the field all the time. But Symonds said so in response and he did not provoke it.” Videos suggesting otherwise shall not be considered by the referee.
Indians will be expected to maintain the highest values in the spirit of the game**. Failing this, the offending players will be: a) Banned or b) Penalised or c) Both a & b
Australians will be expected to maintain the highest values in the spirit of the game**. Failing this, the offending players will be : a) Not banned or b) Not penalised or c) Lauded for their ‘hard cricket’ d) or a, b & c
**The term ‘spirit of the game’ carries multiple meanings. The meaning that suits the Australians the best in a given situation shall be in force.
For any further clarifications on the new set of rules, please feel free to contact Ricky Ponting or Andrew Symonds.
Akhil Tandulwadikar's Blog 
am waiting for Symonds to cry racism now. (P)ricky will take the case to the refree and the bulldozer Hayden will come and say “you said it mate….now you are gone mate” and they will present evidence of Osama, Don Bradman, George Bush to butter their claim.
Its at these instances that i really wish that Bhajji should have called Symonds a monkey. Symonds is the perfect moron. Picks up a fight and runs away crying mummy when the other person retaliates. For his size, he’s just an overgrown ‘chicken’.
Anyway, with the IPL around, we have a lot of reason to rub it into Symonds and the Aussies. C’mon boys. Money talks, so be it. Let’s give it back to them with interest.
The scene created by Ricky Ponting was silly. It was disgusting seeing this kind of stuff happening in matches featuring India and Australia in this tour. The Indian board and players should take this quite seriously. They just cannot keep on playing like this.
Perfect Terms and Conditions and contact details are exact.
Pls provide the email ids and telephone numbers so that I can know more about the interesting and exciting new rules.
ha ha ..very true..
where is MR jb..
i would like his commetn here 🙂
Well said! Heh. I think we should be feeling good. The very fact that the Australians are using cheap tactics to distract our players, shows that they fear them. World champions? Nah…let’s call the Australians ‘pathetic losers’.
Well the Aussies are just taking advantage of the fact that the ICC dictionary of blacklisted words has more Hindi words than English. And English abuses aren’t abuses.
The same blokes cry when some kid in their schools can’t take it anymore and wields a gun. Sledging and abusing are different and here we’re seeing abusive language and bullying.
I sure an happy to see that young Indian blokes have stood up to the challenge like no team before them and are ready to show the way to the door along with a tip (15% of their match fees) to the ICC!
Read more of this at: http://www.onedayers.com/cricket/odi/world-cup/repository-articles/2008/02/26/is-sledging-an-art-form.html
I’m here.
I really don’t have any comments though. It seems to me that the Aussies may start things, but the Indians need to be a bit more clever about how they respond.
why should we be clever in responding …
???
Because they are not being clever in responding at the moment.
It is all very silly at the moment.
Good. So JB agrees that the Aussies are the worse offenders of the two.
@ jb
well ,gimme some example …. where did u want us to be clever .. ????
if some one says something … if listeing to the crap and walking away is clever then we would rather not act cleverly …
symonds got what he deserved… mind it..this is not the end ..this is just starting.. u will see many teams with similar approach…
@Lazybug; No that is not quite what I am saying.
@Arvind,
I am saying that both teams are as bad as each other. However the Indians are reacting badly and their reactions cause action to be taken against them.
For example, Symonds provoked Sharma. Sharma shouldn’t have reacted in a way which got him fined. Now I am not saying Symonds is innocent by any means. I am saying that what Symonds did was within the rules and what Sharma did was not.
Now we can argue whether or not this sort of banter should be permitted. But the reality is that you are not going to stop it.
If the Indians are going to play this game, which the Aussies are masters at, they need to be a bit smarter in how they go about it. Because it is not working in terms of upseting the Aussies and it’s getting them in trouble with the Match Referee!
That shows two things: The ICC’s rules are heavily biased towards English speaking countries. And Australians are being shamelessly opportunistic.
That the Indians are not making efficient use of sledging is understandable, they are simply inexperienced. Australians are better-off right now…but somewhere down the line they’ll start getting it back from every touring team in the same way. Indians have shown the light.
I won’t be surprised if the Aussies cry foul then. Old habits die hard. The holier-than-thou attitude won’t help them long. It’s not surprising that the Aussies are getting a stick from the aussie media itself.
Lazybug,
This series is no differen’t than any others and every team does this with varying success.
The Indians are trying to give it back. I don’t have a problem with that at all. They need to go about it differently. If they want to upset the Aussies, constantly being fined is not the way to go.
@ jb
i guess ishant sharma wont mind a 15 percent fine.. he is already earning heavily… i have always believed that these refrees are as good as nothing ..
I am saying that both teams are as bad as each other. However the Indians are reacting badly and their reactions cause action to be taken against them.
thats a totally obnoxious statement..
u give me one proof before this series where Indian team has sledged,…
on the other hand ..i can start a blog on australian sledging.. there are that many video evidences available..
and i dont mind indians being charged falsely…
Indians are the most gentle players….but there are a few like harbhajan and some new comers like srishanth who are showing aggression . but thats because they get inspired from bowlers like mcgrath and gillespee and may be andrew neil …thats it apart from that tell me an indian player in past who u can call as a sledger…
sorry my friend ,australian team is already losing its invincibility’s status..and it wont be too late that australian team lose its respect too.already it has lost some respect..
One more thing ,why cant ur players learn from gilchrist and bret lee.. they do no provacation…
my main question is why do they want to provoke …???
kok fine symonds played well …its almost 48th over..why cant he just move on to where he deserves ie pavillion
and dont defent him saying saying he was appreciating ishant ..
he clearly say more than 3 words and the way he said it was anything but appreciation ..
“I am saying that both teams are as bad as each other. However the Indians are reacting badly and their reactions cause action to be taken against them.”
i was quoting ur statement in the above commetn..dint work 😛
“my main question is why do they want to provoke …???”
Because it works. Sri Lanka haven’t had any complaints. So maybe it’s not going on, maybe it is but no one is getting upset. I have no idea.
As for my obnoxious statement. There is nothing intended to be obnoxious about my statement. Its how I see the facts playing out.
Sri Lankans never quite presented any threat to the Aussies. They were doing it easily. India is a different story. Right now, India is the only team that can beat the Aussies. Everyone knows what the aussie batting line up could achieve while they were not sledging…205 being their maximum score against India.
You might find a valid reason for sledging and justify it too. But to deny it in press conferences and say that they were provoked by the Indians is downright shameless. Would the aussie team admit that they use sledging as their main weapon on the field?
Lazybug,
Sometimes the Indians are starting it. Both sides are behaving like children, facts are being misrepresented by both sides. It really is stupid behaviour.
I think the Indian team could be great. But no one is going to help you become great. Lots of sides have overcome this sort of thing before. We will get it back, I have no doubt about that. Because all sides do it!
Get hold the documentary “Madras Magic” where Dean Jones scored a double century. Now there was a game played in fantastic hard spirit. And there was plenty of sledging.
The Indian team right from the outset of this tour wanted to try and intimidate the Australian team. Well, it hasn’t worked. They need a new plan.
The best thing India can do is win on Sunday. That will get the Aussies worried and under pressure.
Any cricketer / cricket fan knows that Austrlians use sledging as a weapon to intimidate the opponents but they don’t like when someone retaliates in similar manner, more so when they are being outplayed by the opponents. The pathetic part is that the umpires and match referees have been taking one sided opinions (current series n the recent Ind-Aus test series); The Oz need to grow up; they can’t just provocate the opposition players and still expect the players to be silent.
@JB: “The Indian team …. wanted to try and intimidate the Austrlian team… it hasn’t worked…..” Austrlians have been outplayed in the Test series and have been quite succesful in doing so and that is why they are feeling intimidated. The aggression with which the Indians played can’t be termed as an intimidating act. After all how long can we expect players (other than Oz) to remain silent even if they are abused or sledged against?
“The Indian team right from the outset of this tour wanted to try and intimidate the Australian team.”
Wow! Now that’s a new one. So Bhajji allegedly calling Symonds a Monkey was an act of intimidation? You are talking just like the Aussie players.
“The aggression with which the Indians played can’t be termed as an intimidating act.”
Just because there may be justification doesn’t mean it is no longer an intimidating act. I have no issue with anything the Indians have done, outside of the Monkey issue.
Notice that Hayden will be charged for his comments. What ever happened to free speach?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/7258430.stm
Interesting comments from Stuart Law.
That the Australian cricketers fall on the wrong side of what Law says is just a coincidence I guess.
Both sides are.
But one side just happens to start the things on every occasion. I am sure, that too is a coincidence.
This doesn’t just stop and start. It is one big combination of retailation and point scoring. Someone has to break the cycle.
@ jb
you dint answer me properly . u say australians and indians are both bad ..that is indeed obnoxious..
give me one solid reason…
dont chicken out..give me one solid reason..
and give me one instance in which indians have sledged… just one .. ‘
hayden dint get charged..what do u say about that..
Arvind,
I will address your specific points.
1) Obnoxious means “Very unpleasent and offensive”. How is my saying that both teams are as bad as each other an obnoxious comment.
2) Example of Indian sledging. Too easy. When Bhajji called Symonds a Monkey or Mother F*cker (whichever you choose to beleive). Or by Sharma giving Symonds a sendoff. Or how about the countless of Sreesanth examples.
3) Hayden got charged. He probally shouldn’t have said it from a public relations point of view. Personally I don’t have problem with what he said. I can’t stand Bhajji.
Survey on Fox Sports;
Who do you think is the most disliked international cricketer?
Shoaib Akhtar (Pak) – 0.9% (6 votes)
Sourav Ganguly (Ind) – 6.03% (40 votes)
Matthew Hayden (Aus) – 15.53% (103 votes)
Kevin Pietersen (Eng) – 4.07% (27 votes)
Ricky Ponting (Aus) – 12.06% (80 votes)
Harbhajan Singh (Ind) – 43.74% (290 votes)
Graeme Smith (RSA) – 5.42% (36 votes)
Shantha Sreesanth (Ind) – 3.92% (26 votes)
Andrew Symonds (Aus) – 6.63% (44 votes)
A.N. Other – 1.65% (11 votes)
by obnoxious i meant unacceptable and u are coming again to this series..
australia and india..
read my full comments..i asked apart from this series and apart from sreshant and harbhajan..
srishant is a upcoming bowler and he is inspired by likes of mcgratha dn gillespie who sledged regulalarly..
i had asked u give an apart from this sreeshant and harbahajan controversy….
and what do u want to prove from that survey of urs..
thats voted 99 percent by australian..
if we take a survey in india
u will get 100 percent hatred for any australian in the list..
apart from that survey never show exact data…
and we cant stand the whole australian team…. apart from some cricketers like gilly and bret lee..and possibly every indian crickewter too but they dont tell in public..hayden did it and thats what made this a issue dirty..
harbhajan has been a thorn in ur flesh when ever ur team has visted here…he is the one who takes the most wickets…and similar was the case with murlitharan..have u forgotten..???
y cant u ppl accept a player who is competitive with ur team…
Fine example from the 1996 World Cup
“In the 1996 Cricket World Cup quarterfinal 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.”
Arvind,
This has absolutely nothing to do with competition. It’s great that a side is emerging which can challange the domonance of Australia.
This has to do with the fact that you can’t accept that your team has behaved poorly.
ha ha … man… how could say that india dint behave properly ??? . it becomes funny when a culprit calls a cop a robber .. 😆
sohil was not saying that he hit four.. he was showing that u better do ur job properly..
there was no need of that thing…
again we dont what happened and again we were not who started..
and that was 1996 ,clearly it was not sledging..
today is 2008 …u had go back so long for getting one example..cummon…. i mean u can get more example…
apart from harbhajan incident there ‘s nothing froim which u can say indians behaved badly
where as. .sydney test is an example of bad cricketing spirits in the australian teams…even after the match they dind accept theoir mistakes..
potning doesn’t even know how to speak to journalist… and yeah …do u say waht hayden did was a respectful to a player of his calibler ..
asking ishant to join him in ring is silly..
sreshant inthis series too has been fairly quite ….
harbhajan retaliated when he was provoked…and i dont see anything wromg in that ..as u dont find anything worng in what hayden said,..
Arvind,
I am not going to spend my day going through examples of Indian sledging, considering I have named three perfectly good examples – which you do not wish to accept.
I once raised the issue that “God” has been found guilty of ball tampering to another blog. But that was the umpires fault apparently. You guys simply feel that everything that happens is someone elses fault. This why you are still having trouble getting along with Pakistan!
Hayden was being silly. I don’t argue that. I say that Harghajan has caused issues, and you say that he was retataling, so it doesn’t count.
Get a grip man.
Now you wanted me to contribube to this post
“where is MR jb..
i would like his commetn here ”
I have done so. If you don’t like what I have to say, then too bad.
But the best was when McGrath asked Sarwan how Lara’s dick tasted. Sarwan replied that McGrath should go and ask his wife. hahahaha. This was when McGrath’s wife was on the sickbed with cancer.
That should be the way the aussies should be answered. The rage on McGrath’s face was visible and he threatened to rip off Sarwan’s throat. The whole incident is available on youtube. Watch and have a laugh.
And that too when Sarwan had a bat in his hand and the aussies were playing in WI. If McGrath had touched Sarwan, the aussies would have been lynched then and there itself. That’s typical aussie style of sledging. Cant take an answer. Cry mummy when the opposition replies. As if their own mothers, sisters, colour, religion, region, monkeys are sacred.
The aussie cricket team is full of bullies, have no shame, no sense of how to talk, have no respect to other players (except Lee and Gilly). Hayden showed it yesterday that he is nothing but the scum of the earth. That he is the product of lousy parents and a pathetic family. It just shows the upbringing of that fellow. Nothing much. Shows how a failure his parents were in his growing years. His father would have been regularly bashing up his mum whenever they had an argument. Hence his invitation to Ishant in the boxing ring
I fully support the monkey chants now. I have a few friends in India who are planning to go to the IPL matches wearing monkey T shirts and even Hanuman’s (the hindu monkey god) pictures.
Hayden opened a pandora’s box. This is just the beginning. Even read an article that there are talks on reducing the number of India-Aus matches in future. hahahaha
Let the Cricket Australia rot without the money. With the money power, the BCCI needs to make the CA grovel on their knees.
Till the aussies shut up on the field, this is gonna continue. I dont see any end to the controversy. Its only going to boil over into the IPL.
and the main reason for this is the aussie team. simple. the moment they zip up their as*** (from where they speak), we can see some good cricket.
“I fully support the monkey chants now. I have a few friends in India who are planning to go to the IPL matches wearing monkey T shirts and even Hanuman’s (the hindu monkey god) pictures.”
Liju, this dissapoints me. I don’t have any problem with your comments. But haven’t we established the racial issues around Monkey yet?
i accept what ever mistake indians do..infact i regularly blog about all those issues ….
infact u are the one who is not ready to accept what Australians did….
you can waste the time because u cant find mnay instances.. you can get sledgin issues about ur team in 5 minutes and moreover many issues go unnoticed..
It doesn’t matter what u say..its what the world knows….
even if that was a mistake..
why hayden is stirring the controversy again again //harbhajan has his mouth shut after sydney test.,..
actually i am pretty much happy about all this controversy… it has degraded australian teams respect in the world eyes…except many Australians like you ..
this is not going to end here..every team will retaliate now..
becuase ur players cant keep their big mouths shut…
and u are coming to the same point again again with out a solid reason of this hwole controversy….
and please dont even bother to talk abt india and pakistan…
come to the topic..
we dont want any australian peeping his nose into our political affairs…stay out of it ..
Arvind,
Please don’t talk about cricket. We don’t want any Indians poking their noses into our sporting affairs.
Cool it guys.
Everyone knows for a fact that it’s the Aussies who have started the glut. In fact they’ve thrived on sledging over the years. India, has started the trend of giving it back. Because of this, JB is right in saying that India is not doing it right. But they are doing it. A beginning has been made. Things will get murkier, but neither the Aussies nor the Indians are worried.
Bring it on, fellas!
This one’s a good read considering that it comes from a dark skinned Aussie:
http://www.mid-day.com/web/guest/sports/news/article?_EXT_5_articleId=1016351&_EXT_5_groupId=14
“Australia casts the bait, India fall for it hook, line and sinker and get nailed for the crime. It’s a battle they’ll never win because the Aussie sporting psyche is inured to sledging. Their learning begins at birth when they get sledged by midwives!”
Hahaha!
JB, the floodgates are open. Now why are we worried about the flooding. Let the racial and other slurs roll. Am game.
The ass Hayden goes on radio and insults a rival player and then maintains innocence? And now you want us/me to tone down? The ass Hayden even went on the radio mimicking the Indian way of talking. Isnt that racial? Or is racial stuck at monkey only?
Btw, Akhil, that’s a great read. The aussies are unable to take it. Rub it in. Let it stink. Let the future tours be marred. Who cares now? Cricket can go to crap. BCCI owns world cricket today and lets flaunt it. We’ve taken enough of this sledging nonsense from aussies. Till the aussie team zips its mouth, there can be no peace.
Btw i loved Bhajji’s answer.
“Who is Matthew Hayden?” hahahaha.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/277913.html
Lazybug,
Wasn’t my fault I was provoked. 🙂
Liju,
It’s fine by me. But no complaining.
I heard the interview and it didn’t sound like he was immitating anyone. But even if he was, I don’t see how that is racial. I am happy to hear how you think it might be.
@Liju: That is now inevitable. But I don’t see the Aussies taking the credit for it. 😉
@JB: Racist or not, Hayden has, in true tradition of team, defended himself. And what’s more Gilly too has joined in. Really, I don’t see how someone could defend himself or his team mate after such a ridiculous thing has been said.
I can, harbhajan is a complete prat.
JB, no one is expecting Hayden to make love to Bhajji. He is free to have his contempt for the other the same way we have for the whole aussie team (except lee and gilly). See my emphasis again on those 2 guys lee and gilly.
But basic decency should be maintained when you air your views in public over a rival player. Cos that is a measure of one’s education levels and the way one’s parents have bought them up. With the comments, Hayden has himself made to be looked like a fool. And if you listen to the audio, its clear that he was taken for a ride by the radio hosts who simply wanted some punch lines from him to popularise their show.
Hayden looks like an sucker now. An idiot to be precise.
Yeah – but you see, here Hayden he is seen as someone who voicing our displeasure with Harbhajan.
We don’t disapprove of these statements at all. He said what we all think of the guy.
Now you talk about all this trouble about being because of the Aussies. There is some truth in that. But we see as all these problems being because of Harbhajan. And there is also some truth in that.
All of these problems are being caused by cultural misunderstanding. Neither of us are bad. We just don’t get each other.
And yes I note that Aussies do not include Lee and Gilly.
“But we see as all these problems being because of Harbhajan. And there is also some truth in that.”
Right. After all Harbhajan hasn’t taken anything lying down. He sure is a bugging the aussie cricketers.
Yup. Why do you think the form of Hayden, Ponting and Symonds has been poor?
How do I register on this thing. I need to put a photo up.
Put the link, JB. Only Admins can post images.
oh
i would be out of ur dirty sporting affairs… but when ur ppl talk about harbhajan its our county matter too..
see,here too you have superiorty complex..
i wonder if everybody has it there…
You have an in-superiorty complex.
fine. ..
like hell i care
😆
pretty pathetic effort guys… it appears to me you guys are adopting an extreme opposing view to the australian team… isn’t that pathetic? To me sledging of any sort is ungentlemanly and unsportmanlike. And I don’t appreciate when my own (australian) players sledge – before you get started on me…
Bottom line to me is that sledging of any sort should indeed be banned. Having said that – to call a darker skinned man of Andrew Symonds ethnicity a monkey is incredibly insulting and almost beyond belief. To me the whole sledging issue comes down to one of respect and at present, cricket is about off field crap instead on on field skill.
how about we all take a cold shower and get back to skill????
Harsha Bhogle nails it. Unfortunately the ICC is napping as always.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/278324.html
“Bottom line to me is that sledging of any sort should indeed be banned.”
How would you differentiate between sledging and banter? It’s easier said than done. What irks me about the whole issue is that the Australians plead ‘not guilty’ in spite of being the provokers. In such a scenario, to expect the Indians to keep quiet is too much.
fair comment Lazybug, I was talking to a collegue here (in Aus) about this today and I guess the problem is that some people don’t know where to stop. I have to say (and I suspect that our mates, the media beat it up) some of your guys when they get over here are seen as quite obnoxious and unpleasant for the way they act. If you ban sledging then as you imply, we may end up with banning good natured banter. I mean, when I play golf, some of my mates try and put me off my game by asking if my husband plays – suggesting of course that I play like a big girl.
sadly, they’re probably right too….!
guys, all I am suggesting is that your media and ours should stick to reporting on the game and stop trying to make the news. I am sick to death of when a team has a less than stellar performance, the media tries to suggest that the captain and the coach shouldbe sacked. Does your media attack your guys that way?
Anyway, any balanced person should try to read behind the lines and also possibly realise that the are possibly differences in our cultures that should be allowed to just pass.
In Aussie culture, the approach Haydos approached was borderline bad manners but only mildly so. Racism on the other hand is a particularly significant issue in Australia today as we try very hard to resolve some of our forebear’s mistakes. The outcome has been that we get really upset when someone says something that we really perceive as blatantly racist such as suggesting that Symonds is a monkey.
Guys, not trying to provoke you or anything – and being really respectful I hope.
have a great weekend and chat again sometime….!
I don’t approve of the silly behaviour displayed a times by players like Sreesanth and am quite vocal about this. Same applies to what the Aussies do every now and then.
It’s well known that the Aussies are the most racist people in the world and Asians face the most racism. To them, sledging is just a ’sporting tradition’ but hey, that’s not on for the Indian team. Big money rewards are good but again, that’s not on for the Indian team. Swearing and cursing at the bowler who gets your wicket is OK for the Aussies but that’s not on for the Indian team to even turn around. Recall the numerous times Azharuddin has been fined for turning around. How is that showing contempt or disrespect compared to the foul-mouthed abuse pouring from Australian players when they are dismissed?
It’s my view that the Aussies are jealous that even after being the so called best team in the world for so long (obviously their manners have nothing to do with it)they aren’t getting the monetary rewards and adulation the often mediocre performing Indians get back home. This must infuriate them. ‘They’re treated like rock stars and princes’ – Symonds). The allegations of racial abuse coming from Australians was shrewdly planned to disturb the Indians’ equilibrium, gain mileage for Symonds’ pet peeve and vent their jealousy all in one. (It backfired terribly though). It seems that Andrew Symonds is a bit over sensitive regarding his Aboriginal roots, something that Harbhajan wasn’t even likely to be aware of before Monkeygate. Very likely this is Symonds’ way of showing the Australian media that he won’t tolerate racism. Again, protection from openly racist comments is not on for the Indians. Witness the derogatory remarks made about Indian climate,food and culture in his notorious column.
Every Australian knows that racism is a big issue in their country. Even Casey Affleck has just reported that it’s amazing to see how rampant it is even now against indigenous populations that the white immigrants (British convicts)pushed onto the fringes of society, much like the native Americans in the US. Was it a coincidence that Kevin Rudd (Australian PM) made a public apology to the Aborigines during this whole ugly controversy between the 2 teams? If the Australians are so fond of playing ‘hard and fair’ why does being called a monkey precipitate a diplomatic crisis?
:O Ze Moooooonkey is here 😀