Shane Warne was the best spin bowler the cricketing world has ever seen - about that there is no doubt! The Sports-Man has immense respect for the way he played the game and for his huge cricketing talent, as well as his knowledge of the game. At times, now that he has finally 'retired' from all forms of cricket, he tends to get "too involved", but then again, this is exactly how he played the game all his life! He was involved in almost everything on and off the field of play ...
I have been an enormous fan of both Shane Warne (even though my SA team mostly struggled against him) and Australian cricket, and I do not understand why so many South Africans would support a team like England, for example, instead of the Aussies. The Australians play the game very similar to the way South Africa love to play it, and I enjoy that immensely. Do not get me wrong - I too have been enjoying their "slump in form", which they blame largely on ex-coach, Mickey Arthur.
You gotta love old Merv giving it to the batsmen - gives me chills!
However, Australia always stand up again and that is exactly what they did during the first Ashes test of the 2013/2014 season at the Gabba, in Brisbane. You have to admire their positive attitude and the way they always seem to emerge on top again, especially if you are a true cricket supporter! England received a hammering and lost by 381 runs and the "series" has heated up even more during the aftermath, with Australian captain Clarke being fined 20% of his match fees for sledging and making some 'aggressive' threats / promises to England's opening bowler, Jimmy Anderson.
Firstly, why sledging has been banned from cricket is beyond me. It has taken a lot of the real "sting" out of the game and players are rapped over the knuckles with silly fines whenever they let slip the "F" word or whenever their responses get too aggressive. I have no problem that the umpires calm things down in the middle when it does get too heated, but to fine the players is ridiculous.
What happened on Sunday used to be part of the game for many years and the players always made their peace afterwards, without any officials having to intervene. Clarke was in the slips, with debutant Bailey fielding under the helmet behind Anderson. Anderson, who was facing Johnson at the time, with England staring down the barrel, threatened Bailey with "a punch in the face". Clarke (usually a quiet character on the field)), heard how Jimmy was dealing out some verbal abuse to Bailey and as many other cricketers would, retaliated and came up for his debutant with a response of his own, which was caught clearly on the stump microphone.
I for one, with the opposition one wicket away from a humiliating defeat, would have been in there dishing it out, because one thing you do not do when you are being thrashed on the field of play, is sledge and make "threats" as Anderson clearly did! That is just looking for trouble ...
McGrath just loved to get into the verbal action - one of the reasons I think he was such a successful bowler ...
He pointed a finger at Anderson, threw in the dreaded "F" word and apparently promised Anderson a broken arm during England's final innings. In my eyes, that is and always will be part of cricket and it adds some spark to the game. However, fining only one person in a confrontation that was obviously started by Jimmy Anderson, who regularly sledges, is unfair. This is where Shane Warne decided to get involved, especially because he had access as part of the commentating team to all the stump microphone recordings. You cannot blame Warne on this occasion for sharing his frustrations and honest opinion!
Bring on the rest of the Ashes series ....!!
What are your thoughts on sledging in cricket? Do you think the officials have it right?
