This is a particularly bad time to talk about the spirit of cricket because the side that’s constantly going against that spirit is the side that’s winning. And winning handsomely. In fact, India’s humiliation on the cricket field is so complete that you almost want to say, “Be like Anderson. Abuse the opposition. Then beat the hell out of them.”
That, of course, is the danger when those who behave the worst are the ones who do the best. As it happens, James Anderson runs through India’s top batsmen, not because of his verbal bouncers, but because he bowls unbelievably well. The same goes for the Australians; they were world champions because they played exceptional cricket, not because they were the undisputed champions of sledging as well.
People like Sunil Gavaskar who played in an earlier era will tell you that the fearsome fast bowlers from the all-conquering West Indies teams didn’t waste their energy on sledging; they bowled fast and accurately, and sooner rather than later, the batsmen crumbled. Try telling Anderson that. Try telling the Australians that. They, and sundry New Zealanders and South Africans believe that sledging is just another way of being aggressive, and being aggressive in whatever competitive game you play, is a prerequisite.
To come back to the recent controversy, Anderson and his witnesses have not denied what he said to Ravindra Jadeja on the way to the pavilion for lunch. “What the f**k are you smiling at? I will knock your f**king teeth out in the dressing room.” To which M.S. Dhoni who was walking back with Jadeja said, “If you come to our dressing room, I will squeeze the juice out of you.” However, Anderson’s abusive language had started much earlier on the field. Upset at being clobbered by Jadeja and Dhoni, he said to the Indian captain, “You’re a f**cking fat c**t.” This was reported not by Dhoni, but by umpire Bruce Oxenford, who told Anderson not to say anything further to the batsman.
We all know why the Indian team’s complaint against Anderson fell through. The complaint was that he had committed a Level 3 offence which would have debarred the bowler for the rest of the series. This was based on the accusation that Anderson had actually pushed Jadeja on the way to the pavilion, and any physical contact of this kind takes you to Level 3. The complaint fell through because there was no video evidence of the action; all that Gordon Lewis, the judicial commissioner, had as proof was Dhoni and Jadeja’s word against Anderson and his teammates’. To decide on such a serious offence, the commissioner would have needed at least a neutral witness.
Lewis’ report did say something which has been overlooked by the media: “However, apart from ordering Anderson not to say anything further to the batsman (Dhoni), umpire Oxenford, did not deem that language sufficiently serious to lodge a report about the incident (Anderson abusing Dhoni on the field) with the match referee, even though it seems to have been in breach of Article 2.1.4 in that it was language that was obscene, offensive and insulting.” Lewis’ concluding paragraph adds further, “Finally, as a newly appointed judicial commissioner, I urge the ICC to conduct an immediate review of its code of conduct, as these proceedings have highlighted a number of inadequacies in the code and situations with which it cannot easily cope.”
Why didn’t Oxenford report Anderson to the match referee instead of just asking him to watch it? That is the crux of the matter. Where does sledging take place? On the field, not off it. In fact, some of the worst offenders like Steve Waugh are the nicest people off the field. So if sledging has to be contained and ultimately wiped out, it will happen only if umpires are given a charter of zero tolerance and a system of reporting habitual offenders to each other.
What they will find difficult to control is the “chatter” which reportedly goes on throughout the match. The slip cordon and the wicket keeper are the worst offenders because they are nearest to the batsman. They play a game which is mental disintegration at worse or unsettling the batsman at best. They comment on a batsman’s weaknesses, the likelihood of getting out the next ball, his being scared of a short ball, etc. It can get worse. Not too long ago, an English batsman touring with his team to Australia was in a terrible state of mind because British tabloids had suddenly exploded with the story of his wife’s affair. When he took guard, Mark Waugh fielding in the slips said, “So who is your wife sleeping with tonight?”
Nowadays no one talks much about cricket being a “Gentleman’s game”. Just as well because it never was. The stories of W.G. Grace, the greatest batsman of cricket’s early era, are legion. He was a large, formidable man with a bushy beard, who intimidated umpires with a terrifying glare. In county matches he is supposed to have often said to umpires, “How dare you give me out? People have come to watch me play.” Sledging, you could say, started when cricket itself started.
Then there was the “Gentlemen” and “Players” caste system in England. “Gentlemen” were cricketers who didn’t have to earn their living from the game. “Players” were those who were paid to play, and therefore considered inferior. In the same team, they had separate dressing rooms and even separate gates from the dressing room to the playing field!
So it was hardly surprising that when the captain of the English team, a “gentleman” called Douglas Jardine hit upon the idea of bodyline to stop Don Bradman, he should choose a “player” to do the dirty; Harold Larwood was a miner’s son and he needed his cricket fees badly. The only cricketer to express dissent was the Nawab of Pataudi, Saif Ali Khan’s grandfather. Although he was the vice-captain, he stood down from the playing 11 as protest against bodyline.
However, even if cricket cannot be a gentleman’s game, there is no reason why it cannot be civilised. In tennis, you have fierce competitors like Rafael Nadal, but do they resort to abuse and unfair tactics? The ICC should change the rules as suggested by judicial commissioner Lewis and umpires should be instructed to crack the whip. Then the James Andersons of the world will learn to zip their lips and let the ball do the talking.
The writer is a senior journalist
