Donald admits to sledging...will this happen now? no way!!!

[Rajan]

http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19990712/isp12085.html from the article... Monday, July 12, 1999 Donald names Tendulkar best batsman, admits to sledging, abusing PRESS TRUST OF INDIA ________________________________________ …………..Donald admits to abusive sledging tactics, especially in the infamous run-in with Rahul Dravid in the 1997 One-day tri-series final in Durban. India were replying to South Africa's 252 made in 40 overs in a rain-hit tie. Tendulkar hoisted Donald for a six, but he lost his cool when Dravid hit him for a six and a four in succession. Donald admits that he had walked right up to Dravid, face to face, and used bad language. ``The TV cameras had me in close-up, with everyone lip-reading my words.'' He writes, ``Dravid's eyes lit up when he saw me standing so close, I've done something similar manytimes in tense games like this one.'' ``As I eye-balled Dravid, Hansie Cronje shouted at Dravid. A few of the other boys in the field picked up the aggressive vibes and they started to mouth off. It worked, because it revived us when it looked as if we were going to cop a hammering, and the crowd got behind us well,'' he adds. Donald justifies the behaviour saying, ``that sort of confrontation goes down well in South African sport and some of the Indian cricketers didn't like it.'' He says Azharuddin came in on Tendulkar's dismissal and told Cronje what ``I had said to Dravid was out of order.''``Hansie told him to shut his mouth and get on with the game,'' he says, adding, ``after that, we all climbed onto Azza and gave him some fearful stick. In the end, they folded, we won the final (by 16 runs) after looking out of it.'' Donald's attempts to make up with Dravid after the match were brushed aside by the Indian batsman with a ``hard look'', but he was jolted when a fan of Indian origin placed aletter under his room castigating him for his ``racist'' behaviour. The bowler says he tore up that letter in anger but he and Cronje kept receiving many more calls and letters from the same person calling them names. Donald says it was only an attempt to gain ``a competitive edge that's involved in playing top-class sport, the need to dominate an opponent before he does the same to you. It had absolutely nothing to do with race, it was a matter of testing out Dravid with verbals, to see if he could fight back at me. If he couldn't take it in the heat of battle, then he shouldn't be out there.'' The bowler hailing from Bloemfontein, the Afrikaan heartland, says he was never in the habit of getting involved in racist comments.``I believe the issue was about the Indians being less confrontational than us, and getting disconcerted by some typical South African verbal bullying,'' he adds. Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. ====================== am sure this would never happen with this indian team. no way. I remember this incident and i was quite upset about Sachin not doing anything when Donald went ballistic against Dravid, despite being the skipper of the team.i think he let the team down badly by that. It would never have happened with Ganguly as the non striker. certainly not with Dhoni too. the worst part was Allan Donald was not charged , neither was any enquiry, even a token complaint by the indian team. they did not have spine till Ganguly took over really. I am happy in a way for the current team because we dont get intimidated so easily. i am not supporting Harbhajan, Sree santh, Gambhir getting in to trouble. but v shud know where to draw the line and also be prepared to give it back and bring the attention of the officials immediately to keep the opposition from indulging in sledging. Katich should have been reported by Indian team management at delhi. if Hayden reports Zak, then why should we keep quiet if Watson, Haddin, Johnson and Katich sledge, unprovoked.

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

No wonder none of the SA players were charged for sledging. Those were the days of immunity for white players from the ICC code of conduct (something that hasn't totally disappeared even to this day). No ****ing bowler would dare to sledge this Indian team in a major way, not due to the possibility of being punished but because they know they'll be torn apart by this team.

[Kartikey]

In Dravid's biography, it says Sachin had a word with the umpire who obviosuly didnt do anything and SRT asked RD to keep going. And the ICC referee that day, Barry Jarman also did nothing.

[Rajan]

In Dravid's biography' date=' it says Sachin had a word with the umpire who obviosuly didnt do anything and SRT asked RD to keep going. And the ICC referee that day, Barry Jarman also did nothing.[/quote'] thanks for the correction. i am wrong about sachin then. but if Rahul had indeed written that the umpire did not intervene then the team management shud have taken up the issue with Referee and if he had failed , to ICC.

[Kartikey]

thanks for the correction. i am wrong about sachin then. but if Rahul had indeed written that the umpire did not intervene then the team management shud have taken up the issue with Referee and if he had failed ' date= to ICC.

Well it wasnt RD, it was his biographer, Davendra Prabhudesai. And ur correct, they should have taken the issue up with the ICC but then lets not forget this was in the 90's and they would have done nothing.

[flamy]

they will be handed some MASHALLAH PWNAGE if they try that shimit now :D

[punjabi_khota]

Going by recent examples, Zak,Gambhir and Yuvi will give them hell if they try ****ing with them now.

[Kartikey]

Going by recent examples' date=' Zak,Gambhir and [b']Yuvi will give them hell if they try ****ing with them now.

If they're not careful, Yuvi might go after them with his bat as his weapon.

[Fontaine]

I've had a very simple solution to the whole sledging problem. If any player doesn't want to be sledged on the field, and they ARE sledged and ask the umpire to intervene ( as in the case above) and the umpire does nothing, the sledging continues then the player SHOULD SLEDGE THE UMPIRE. It's pretty simple to me. If sledging is ok between players even when one player doesn't want to sledge back then just go up to the umpire and start sledging him. Tell him he's a no balls coward who can't do his job. Pretty simple in my opinion. Then we'll see if the ICC is willing to keep this nonsense off the field or not.

[CC1981]

I don't have a problem with what Donald did - there is nothing unfair about it - as cricket does have a mental component to this and this isnt chess- if mouthing off the opposition gets them off their game, then its well justified and woth it - ofcourse, it wont work against some ( like i doubt it'd work against Tendy) or even fire them up, but its well worth the gamble. Only certain things are IMO off limits - family/race/caste/ convict stuff etc. are clearly out of order. I'd rather we sledge and respond to sledging by raising our game than being submissive and go crying as to why did so-n-so call us a name. Its a sport, there is adrenalin involved - get over it and get on with the program is my take. Ultimately, being mentally strong to weather/dish out this stuff is a strength that can and should be used instead of taking it out of the picture completely. So as long as Donald didnt say anything racist or involving family, i say good on ya Alan ! Sledging the umpire is a ridiculous idea btw - the umpire isnt directly involved and it is purely HIS discretion as to what is/is not allowable sledging and how long it should go on for. He isnt obligated to play by your standards of sledging as it is not his job to mollycoddle you. Yes, some days umpires will be on your side, some days they won't, but thats only true if you have ballz or a thick skin. Nobody likes a cissy and if i were the umpire and this XYZ player came whining to me everytime someone sledged him, i'd think 'what a whino- i don't care, let them take a dig at this insecure fool'. But clearly, there is such a thing as too much or over the top.

[Shehezaada]

I don't have a problem with what Donald did - there is nothing unfair about it - as cricket does have a mental component to this and this isnt chess- if mouthing off the opposition gets them off their game, then its well justified and woth it - ofcourse, it wont work against some ( like i doubt it'd work against Tendy) or even fire them up, but its well worth the gamble. Only certain things are IMO off limits - family/race/caste/ convict stuff etc. are clearly out of order. I'd rather we sledge and respond to sledging by raising our game than being submissive and go crying as to why did so-n-so call us a name. Its a sport, there is adrenalin involved - get over it and get on with the program is my take. Ultimately, being mentally strong to weather/dish out this stuff is a strength that can and should be used instead of taking it out of the picture completely. So as long as Donald didnt say anything racist or involving family, i say good on ya Alan ! Sledging the umpire is a ridiculous idea btw - the umpire isnt directly involved and it is purely HIS discretion as to what is/is not allowable sledging and how long it should go on for. He isnt obligated to play by your standards of sledging as it is not his job to mollycoddle you. Yes, some days umpires will be on your side, some days they won't, but thats only true if you have ballz or a thick skin. Nobody likes a cissy and if i were the umpire and this XYZ player came whining to me everytime someone sledged him, i'd think 'what a whino- i don't care, let them take a dig at this insecure fool'. But clearly, there is such a thing as too much or over the top.

good post. Best way to deal with sledging is with the bat, not with the mouth.

[bharat297]

I've had a very simple solution to the whole sledging problem. If any player doesn't want to be sledged on the field, and they ARE sledged and ask the umpire to intervene ( as in the case above) and the umpire does nothing, the sledging continues then the player SHOULD SLEDGE THE UMPIRE. It's pretty simple to me. If sledging is ok between players even when one player doesn't want to sledge back then just go up to the umpire and start sledging him. Tell him he's a no balls coward who can't do his job. Pretty simple in my opinion. Then we'll see if the ICC is willing to keep this nonsense off the field or not.

:giggle: ... Thats not a bad idea

[rahulrulezz]

agree with CC1981 ... cricket is not a game for sissies..sledging makes the game more intresting and fun.... i still remember that match.. i think the only reason i remember that was coz of sledging... i say there should one man to man fighting allowed in cricket just like Ice-hockey under the control of Umpire... any cricketer can challange one another cricketer after the match and if both agree, fighting match should be on....., umpire can officiate the match till one guy gives up or gets knocked out...

[Holysmoke]

agree with CC1981 ... cricket is not a game for sissies..sledging makes the game more intresting and fun.... i still remember that match.. i think the only reason i remember that was coz of sledging... i say there should one man to man fighting allowed in cricket just like Ice-hockey under the control of Umpire... any cricketer can challange one another cricketer after the match and if both agree' date= fighting match should be on....., umpire can officiate the match till one guy gives up or gets knocked out...

:haha: Can I have what you're smoking? Please?

[punjabi_khota]

agree with CC1981 ... cricket is not a game for sissies..sledging makes the game more intresting and fun.... i still remember that match.. i think the only reason i remember that was coz of sledging... i say there should one man to man fighting allowed in cricket just like Ice-hockey under the control of Umpire... any cricketer can challange one another cricketer after the match and if both agree' date= fighting match should be on....., umpire can officiate the match till one guy gives up or gets knocked out...

:haha::haha::haha:.

[rahulrulezz]

:haha: Can I have what you're smoking? Please?

:--D..thinking of it, it is funny... but on a serious note, if they can do this in Ice-hockey why not in Cricket...roj roj ki khich pich of Bhajji and Symonds or Katich and Zaheer will be solved...

[Holysmoke]

:--D..thinking of it' date=' it is funny... but on a serious note, if they can do this in Ice-hockey why not in Cricket...roj roj ki khich pich of Bhajji and Symonds or Katich and Zaheer will be solved...[/quote'] More Symmo's , Less Tendu's.......

[Temujin Khaghan]

scorecard of the match?

[vinayak1986]

i still remember seeing that bloody match and getting pissed off! that shameless bastard is just laughing it off now. and many of our 24*7 reporters chase him 4 interviews even now, but none has the spine to ***** him by asking about that incident! I don't think any pommy or african or caribean or kiwi will do that to an INDIAN now, cuz they eye an ICL or IPL berth..

[bunny]

Don't have the scorecard, but remember that Dravid hit a six at long on during field restrictions, and Tendulkar was caught at short fine leg, and then Dravid and Azhar were progressing along really well, and in the end the late middle order and the tail just folded. We should have won that match. btw, we didn't lose that match because of sledging. We lost because our WK and tail were pathetic at that point of time.