Sledging, mind games and the Gentleman’s Game called Cricket - Opinion
The recent public spat between Australian legends http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stephen-Rodger-Waugh-c91216 and Kiren Perkin – both of whom served as liaison officers with their country’s Olympic delegation - has resurfaced the discussion over the controversial use of sledging in sports and particularly
in cricket, where it has been under discussion since taking centre stage in the latter half of the 20th century.
Sledging is a constant barrage of insults aimed to undermine the confidence of an opponent and was once referred by Waugh, the former Australian captain, as 'mental disintegration'. Perkins, the former swimming champion however, disagreed with the notion
and termed it as a ‘sign of weakness on the part of sledgers’.
There was a reason cricket was called a gentleman’s game because it was played by the elite gentility of the English society back in the 17th century. While the suave and sophisticated English aristocrats who learned their mild manners at Eton, Harrow and
Charterhouse were averse to the terms like sledging, excessive appealing, cheating, or temper tantrums; the batsman would prefer to take a ‘walk’ if he knew he was out.
Times however, have changed the modern-day cricket and with its transformation, competitiveness has increased manifold and mind games have become as a permanent part, with sledging being one of them.
There were many sports that spread during the colonialism, cricket was among them, introduced by the British military officers and gradually popularised by the locals in the colonies. By the end of the nineteenth century, it started to spread its wings among
the masses and beyond the secluded Gymkhanas and elite cricket clubs, and was further limited only for the exclusive dignitaries.
During most part of the last century, Cricket retained much of its traditional flavour and character, university cricket remained the only breeding ground for the selectors to choose from and players from Cambridge and Oxford - the sophisticated and well-mannered
gentlemen - regularly featured in the English team; a tradition that continued till 1970s and 80s.
Yet, still we witnessed the controversial incident involving the intimidating ‘bodyline’ tactic used by the English team, the ‘under-arm bowling’ by the Australian side or a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Miandad-c66580 at Perth - incidents that were regarded unsporting
and against the spirit of the game.
Things however, have drastically changed as the young raw talent from the middle-class began to make significant inroads; the game’s ‘elite exclusivity’ was gradually diminished. These young men from humble background, but brimming with youth and an urge
to prove their talent brought an on-field aggression. At first, it was hard to accept for the audiences that were more accustomed to the sedate manners, but soon teams around the world began to use it as a ploy to intimidate the oppositions.
Today the game has galvanized the once gentlemanly spirit of cricket, exchanging warm handshakes and kind words have been replaced by on-field scuffles, psychological tactics and mind games with players from both teams exchanging words that could make the
greats of yesteryears cringe in revulsion.
Whether, it’s a finger-toting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Kohli-c2737, the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds Racism Controversy, illegal betting, heady cocktails and drugs or actresses being used to lure cricketers into the match/spot-fixing, it is sledging, which is considered as the
first step towards the prevalent and deliberate incivility in international cricket. The debates on its validity may go on forever, but there is no doubt today over the questionable status of cricket, as a ‘gentleman’s game’.
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