ICC must step in, its getting too 'obnoxious'

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Some of the cricket this summer in Australia has been riveting. Yet I would be very happy if the series is forgotten, put in a leaky time capsule and buried deep somewhere. More... ICC must step in, it’s getting too 'obnoxious' Harsha Bhogle Posted online: Thursday , February 28, 2008 at 2353 hrs IST Some of the cricket this summer in Australia has been riveting. Yet I would be very happy if the series is forgotten, put in a leaky time capsule and buried deep somewhere. It has spewed venom, anger, even hatred. Cricket was meant to be a bridge between nations, lead to an understanding of countries and cultures. Instead it is emerging as a divisive force, driving wedges between two sets of people who have a common love for sport. Do we need hatred to sell sport? Do we have to swear at each other to survive? If dividing simple people who love sport is the path we are driving on, if hatred is the result of following the sport that is religion to us, then let us stop playing. Let us put a one year moratorium on cricket till everyone grows up. Two statements have left me pained and made me relook at the reason I follow this sport around like a pilgrim would. Matthew Hayden has called Harbhajan Singh an ‘obnoxious weed’ and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said, about sledging, that “youngsters need to learn all these things...it is an ‘art’.” Neither statement does the game credit and it is particularly sad that those involved are people I admire. Hayden would be in the shortlist of people I would like to invite home. I have found him pleasant and polite though I am told his rivals on the field have a different image. But he has now called a competitor, and a colleague in a larger world, an obnoxious weed. You cannot say that because it is disrespectful and because it tells others that it is okay to say so. Increasingly a contest is bringing out the Voldermort in people when cricket desperately needs a Dumbledore. And yet, unwittingly, Hayden may have done us a favour for he has surely taken the game closer to the “zero-tolerance” on sledging that the ICC so happily endorsed last week. It can no longer remain on the agenda, it can no longer require another meeting to endorse. It must be done today. Cricket is on the path to hatred and the ICC needs to pull it back now. No sledging, no personal abuse, no crude gesturing, no innuendo. We have lost that option and deservedly so. Hopefully then, Dhoni’s youngsters will not have to learn this “art”. Money and fame have already emerged as distractions. Those are the by-products of performance, not its drivers. The need to sledge cannot become another distraction. Instead, Dhoni and other captains can lead a fight to consign sledging and personal abuse to history. Golf and tennis seem to be getting by fine and there is no reason why cricket cannot either. I have also heard the word “tiddlywinks” being bandied around. Former cricketers and some administrators have said “cricket is not tiddlywinks”. If playing cricket requires that players abuse each other, make references to parentage and otherwise insult each other, my suggestions is to bring tiddlywinks on. A lot of former cricketers, and many current ones, live in a bubble and either do not know or do not care about what the public thinks. The news for them is that they count for very little. The only people who matter in our game are those that watch on television, those that pay to enter stadiums, sponsors who allow all of us to make a living, the administrators who run it and the players who play it. And that is why it is time the paying and watching public spoke out for what it wants. Does it want a series where the challenge is between bat and ball, an unrelenting, tough challenge between bat and ball, or one where players are abusing each other and where the media is taking sides and accentuating the abuse? Speak out because you must get what you want. If the audience doesn’t like a performance, there is no performance. In fact, one of the nicest things to have happened to me this summer was the opportunity to meet a lot of simple, sports loving Australians who have been appalled by what has happened. They are bored and angry about all that has been happening and I am sure cricket lovers in India feel the same way. It is time we demanded our game back and the first step is for the ICC to ban all abuse and sledging. Now. And for good. It is time to sit back and admire the progress that Ishant Sharma has made and applaud Adam Gilchrist’s contribution. That is why we watch sport and read about it. Not for all the other nonsense we have been subjected to these last couple of months.

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Hayden admits he was 'insensitive' Aus opener Matthew Hayden has admitted that his behaviour was 'insensitive' and warranted a reprimand. More... Hayden admits he was 'insensitive' Posted online: Friday , February 29, 2008 at 1025 hrs IST Melbourne, February 29: : Australian opener Matthew Hayden has admitted being "insensitive" in making the 'obnoxious little weed' remark against Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh but said it was not against the spirit of cricket and did warrant a reprimand. "I can see that my comments were insensitive but they were not intended to be denigrating and especially not contrary to the spirit of cricket," Hayden said. "The cricket environment I have grown up with is probably a little bit different from today," the 37-year-old cricketer was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph. Hayden expressed anguish at being reprimanded by Cricket Australia for his behaviour. "It saddens me that my employer has to discipline me for my behaviour," Hayden said. Hayden, in an interview to Brisbane Radio, had called Harbhajan "obnoxious little weed" and also invited young paceman Ishant Sharma "into a ring" for a boxing bout. CA rules do not allow its contracted players to make comments against opponent players or the Board and hence charged Hayden with breach of its code of behaviour, although let off with only a reprimand

[udaydewan]

Cricket is soon going to have Zidane like Head-Butting incident Sledging has reached new heights during this Australian Tour. Cricket is soon going to see Zidane like Head-Butting incident which happened in the finals of the Soccer World Cup 2007. Either ICC stops sledging at all or we will definetely see some fighting on the cricket ground soon.

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Dark art of sledging is just not cricket Cricket was never quite the gentleman's game it's been depicted as, but it's certainly become a lot more personal in recent years, and we've had Matthew Hayden describing Harbhajan Singh as a "little obnoxious weed". More... Dark art of sledging is just not cricket By Martin Johnson Last Updated: 12:50am GMT 01/03/2008 Cricket was never quite the gentleman's game it's been depicted as - even WG Grace was not averse to a spot of sledging - but it's certainly become a lot more personal in recent years, and this week we had Matthew Hayden, the Australia batsman, describing Harbhajan Singh, the India spinner, as a "little obnoxious weed". Leaving aside the fact that England's players in particular will have formed the view that a player as mouthy as Hayden was throwing his stones from a particularly large greenhouse, Test match cricketers are now, by all accounts, being selected for the quality of their insults as much as their ability with bat or ball. MS Dhoni, the India one-day captain, revealed as much when he said: "If you're getting provoked there are ways you can reply, and we have youngsters in our side who will learn all these arts. I think it's an art. You have to be good at it." The Australians have certainly become more refined since the days of Merv Hughes, for whom subtlety was a rarely-embraced concept. Merv's idea of a fun afternoon in the field was to position himself in close proximity to a batsman's nose, and, from beneath the large koala bear perched on his top lip, pour forth words of such eloquence as: "eff off yer Pommie bastard." It's a tragedy he was never appointed Australia's first poet laureate. There was a time when the primary ingredient of sledging was humour - schoolboyish though a bowler beating the bat, and then muttering, "I'll bowl you a piano, see if you can play that" - might have been. Now, though, if you can get under an opponent's skin by questioning the fidelity of his wife, or his own sexual preferences, you are providing an invaluable service to your team. Quite how the phrase "it's not cricket" has managed to retain its dictionary definition of ungentlemanly conduct is becoming ever more puzzling, but there are more serious issues connected to bad behaviour in the game than merely calling people nasty names on the field of play. Every international side sign a "code of conduct" agreement before a series, yet not only does this keep getting broken, but the very threat of being punished for it produces more lawyers than you will find running behind an American ambulance. After the Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, took his side off the field in Adelaide in 1999, in protest at Muttiah Muralitharan being called for throwing, they marched into the International Cricket Council hearing with a small army of legal advisers. The same applied after Pakistan shut themselves inside the Oval dressing room over the Darrell Hair ball-tampering Test, and there were more threats when Harbhajan was judged guilty of racial abuse. The argument put forward in all these cases was that the umpire's decision has no basis in law. That's true, but it is also irrelevant. What matters is the application of the spirit of the game, and the code of conduct these teams all signed up to. What, in the world of modern professional sport, is a signature now worth? Not very much, would seem to be the answer.

[bharat297]

The ICC really does need to do something about the sledging atm. I have always felt you can be intimidating simply by your body language and your composure. This series I feel both teams have stepped over the line, and the ICC needs to reel them in.

[Ram]

The last thing I would want happening is a blanket ban on all all field exchanges or sledging. That would definitely kill the fun. After all, what is sport without controversies and drama ? One of the main reasons why a sport like Chess has never been a great favorite with the T.V audience is because it completely lacks any element of human emotion/sentiment. The world's most popular sports are those in which the players express their emotions in an unfettered way and cricket is one of them. Hope it stays that way. I am all for glares, heated exchanges and sledging.

[Mandrake]

cmon ICC is a joke....sledging is fine as long as everyone tows the same line which is an impossibility with the current morons at ICC.

[Pancho]

I am all for glares' date=' heated exchanges and sledging.[/quote'] agreed. id hate to see international cricket sanatized to the point where some quick witted barbs thrown between opposing players is met with fines and suspensions. this isnt grade cricket. they are playing for world cups, the ashes, money.. with so much at stake, surely, have a bit of common sense and understand the pressures involved. if a player can irritate a batsman into making a false shot that results in them being dismissed.. go for it. merv hughes must be shaking his head at all this.. part of the game. has been for years and years. this has been a heated, extremely competitive series, and the boundaries of sledging have been challenged and crossed. as far as "zidane head butting".. dont exaggerate. i dont think it will ever come to that. that sort of thing could ruin a career in cricket.. a game that would never be thought of having violent confrontations between teams. sponsorship deals down the drain, you name it. violence is not associated with cricket, and never will be. ill also add, i listen to what harsha has to say usually, but his idea of professional sportsmen, under the pressure of representing your country with a lot at stake, watching what they say and how they act is unreasonable. plus sledging provides the fans with endless stories with endless laughter. lets not encourage something so soft.

[IndianRenegade]

Allowing sledging doesn't mean you can't be well behaved. It okay to get into the mind of a batsman or bowler, but you should keep a watch on what to say to achieve it.

[Pancho]

well yes, but whos to decide what is offensive.. what isnt offensive. what was said went too far.. what was said was fine. its fairly open to personal opinions, which will more than likely be strung out at some rubbish hearing where a "he said/but he said this" argument will feature.

[IndianRenegade]

well yes' date=' but whos to decide what is offensive.. what isnt offensive. what was said went too far.. what was said was fine. its fairly open to personal opinions, which will more than likely be strung out at some rubbish hearing where a "he said/but he said this" argument will feature.[/quote'] Its for the batsman or the bowler to decide what is offensive to him. And if he goes on to complain, it is for the judge to decide whether he is right.

[Pancho]

Its for the batsman or the bowler to decide what is offensive to him. And if he goes on to complain' date=' it is for the judge to decide whether he is right.[/quote'] so sledging is outlawed or clamped down upon. i see more hearings, more judges, more players, more lawyers sitting in a room arguing over what is offensive ? what offensive might be to someone, is not offensive to another. sounds like a complete waste of time and massive over reaction. seems like more reasons to look elsewhere besides the cricket being played in the middle if that were to happen. the 70's and 80's are laughing at this so-called sledging occuring in this series.

[IndianRenegade]

so sledging is outlawed or clamped down upon. i see more hearings, more judges, more players, more lawyers sitting in a room arguing over what is offensive ? what offensive might be to someone, is not offensive to another. sounds like a complete waste of time and massive over reaction. seems like more reasons to look elsewhere besides the cricket being played in the middle if that were to happen. the 70's and 80's are laughing at this so-called sledging occuring in this series.

The captains are advised by ICC to report to the referee any event that is against the laws. :D Moreover it is not mandatory for the referee to act against all complaints, he can use his common sense to decide which ones are accepted and which ones are not accepted.

[Chandan]

The ICC really does need to do something about the sledging atm. I have always felt you can be intimidating simply by your body language and your composure. This series I feel both teams have stepped over the line' date=' and the ICC needs to reel them in.[/quote']

[Pancho]

The captains are advised by ICC to report to the referee any event that is against the laws. :D

yes, i know this. works well yeh ? ;)

Moreover it is not mandatory for the referee to act against all complaints, he can use his common sense to decide which ones are accepted and which ones are not accepted.

sorry, but are you the same IndianRenegade who hasnt had the best things to say about referees and the ICC ? now you are putting faith in them to decide which complaints about sledging should be looked at or dismissed ? common sense you say now ? i think harsha and a few others are over reacting to what has been an emotional, fiery series. there has always been bad blood between india and australia in recent years.. and whilst i have been amazed at what has transpired this series, a heated rivalry like this one is exciting for cricket. is for me anyway..

[kabira]

it should be fair. If bhajji says something to Aussies and its not abuse, it should stay on field. Same with Hayden. Team should be prepared to cope sledging. How would they make fair? Captains have huge role to play.

[fineleg]

it should be fair. If bhajji says something to Aussies and its not abuse, it should stay on field. Same with Hayden. Team should be prepared to cope sledging. How would they make fair? Captains have huge role to play.

Not as long as you have loserz like Punter or Pup as captainz

[udaydewan]

Cricket is soon going to have Zidane like Head-Butting incident -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sledging has reached new heights during this Australian Tour. Cricket is soon going to see Zidane like Head-Butting incident which happened in the finals of the Soccer World Cup 2007. Either ICC stops sledging at all or we will definetely see some fighting on the cricket ground soon.

[IndianRenegade]

yes' date=' i know this. works well yeh ? ;)[/quote'] Whats your take? if you don't agree, you shouldn't be advocating it....:D

sorry, but are you the same IndianRenegade who hasnt had the best things to say about referees and the ICC ? now you are putting faith in them to decide which complaints about sledging should be looked at or dismissed ? common sense you say now ?

Red herring. If I use your own logic, you were the same person to claim no one is stopping other teams from complaining. Yet when one advises to do so, you bring in our issue with referees to try and not do so. Coming to the issue of trusting the referees, the fact remains that India hasn't complained about aussie sledging to referee's other than request to talk to ricky on it, to which the referee agreed. The referees have been taking fair decisions except in the Bahjji - Symonds row. In the Ishant - Symonds row only Ishant was reported by on field umpires. More over, I am talking about them deciding which words are offensive & which ones are not. I haven't seen anything from the referees that suggest they have goofed up on this. My other general issues with referees has got nothing to do with specific instances of complaint & deciding on the acceptance of the same.