- Jun 6, 2005
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I am gonna rock the boat a bit and disagree with some of you here, I think anything verbal should be allowable on the cricket field. Here's why...
I went from playing county cricket to U15 level in the UK where a set of slips might josh..."did anyone give him instructions with that bat, does he know what to do with it"...all very mild...
to QLD grade cricket where you would have some bogan from woop woop breathing down your neck at short leg telling you how he shafted your mum last night and trying anything to get a reaction.
How did I cope with it, shock at first that this side to the game existed, then a realisation that mental strength was just as much a part of the game as technique. If you lost the plot when a bowler took the piss out of your english accent or whatever and got yourself out trying to slog him then more fool you.
Lets face it, not all of us have it in us to dish it out, i know i don't, but we should all be strong enough to ignore it and I see no problem with teams having verbal players who create the aggro.
In a club game if someone calls ya a black bastard, monkey, pommie, yid, bloody anything, if it offends you that much then go and lamp them after the game...but chances are you'll be having a beer with them and they'll be telling ya how they really did knob your mum last night.
So to sum up, I don't agree with racism but you cannot have circumstances that are accepted and common in lower levels of the game wiped out at test level. Ditch the close mics on tv and let them sledge each other to their hearts content. IMHO
But thats just not cricket.