Sunil Gavaskar (Colin Cowdrey lecture)

[Donut]

I've always had a lot of respect for Sunil. He was class on and off the field:

I guess it doesn't matter how you win any more - the end justifies the means:

Gavaskar calls for tougher action against sledging
Wisden CricInfo staff - July 30, 2003

Cricket needed to take a leaf out of the books of golf and tennis in dealing with the sledging element which is detracting from cricket's appeal.

That was the view of Sunil Gavaskar, one of the world's leading batsmen during his career and the holder of the record for the most Test centuries (34) in his career, who yesterday delivered the annual Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's. With its subject matter based on the Spirit of Cricket message which was one of Cowdrey's administrative legacies to the game, Gavaskar attacked the modern verbalism in the same manner with which he used to dissemble opposing attacks.

Gavaskar said he was only dealing with an element of 10% of the world's Test players, but made no bones of the fact that the majority of those players were from the world champion Australian side.

"There is more money in other sports such as golf and tennis but, thanks to tough laws, one does not find misbehaviour or bad language there," he said. "The old adage 'it's not cricket', which applied to just about everything in life, is no longer valid - and that's a real pity. In the modern world of commercialisation of the game and the advent of satellite television and the motto of winning at all costs, sportsmanship has gone for six.

"Now I have heard it being said that whenever there's been needle in a match, words have been exchanged. That may be true, but what was banter in days gone by - and was enjoyed by everyone, including the recipient - today has degenerated to downright personal abuse."

That banter, when applied by the likes of England's Fred Trueman, could be witty, but sledging was less attractive because of the effect it had on young players who, because they saw the world champions indulging in the activity, came to believe that it was necessary to abuse the opposition to win. This caused a reluctance among parents to let their children play the game.

Gavaskar wondered whether the 1948 Australian side under Don Bradman, by common regard one of the finest of all touring sides, had resorted to sledging. He didn't know, but he did say that such was the fearsome attack the West Indies enjoyed under Clive Lloyd in the 1970s and 1980s that sledging wasn't required.

Gavaskar suggested that perhaps players should be protected from abusive opponents in the same way that umpires were protected under the game's code of conduct. Team coaches also had a duty to step in and stop the occurrence when it is indulged by younger players.

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Apparently Sunil wasn't too enamoured of the Australians referring to him as a piece of the female anatomy.

[Yorick]

He's not using words to make the Austrlalians feel rude, less talented and mean is he? That might put them off their game. What a sledger Sunil has turned out to be! That's just not cricket!

[Donut]

Originally posted by Yorick: He's not using words to make the Austrlalians feel rude, less talented and mean is he? That might put them off their game. What a sledger Sunil has turned out to be! That's just not cricket!

Now, now Yorick - I would have expected more from you. That isn't what he's saying. Unless you are saying people like Shane Warne (for it's he that uses the 'C' word the most) need to be so abusive in order to win.

Cricket is one of the few sports that incorporates into it's rules that it should be played 'in the spirit of the game as well as within the laws'.


4. The Spirit of the Game involves RESPECT for:
- Your opponents
- Your own captain and team
- The role of the umpires
- The game’s traditional values

There is room in the game for banter, there is room for commenting on your opponents ability but personal abuse is wrong.

[wellard]

Hold on to your hat Donut........

I agree 100% with you. [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] It was allowed to flourish under borders later years as captain. Fed up with losing he turned his side into a mean and focused team. Out the window went all the friendly banter and chat when a new batsman walked to the crease. Border had the sole aim of making the batsman ill at ease for his entire stay. Even famously telling his team not to talk at all to D. Randell a noted nervous chatter. When he came to the crease he was surrounded by total silence, which he found off putting in the extreme. Mark Taylor perfected the art of "mental disintragation" and his mantra of never giving a mug an even break was rigorously applied. But it did work. The famous "how does it feel to have just dropped the world cup" remark was said to have crushed the S.A. confidence after a simple catch was not taken and let Australia through for a victory.


While the support of sledging may have been questionably justified in the border years, the last fifteen years has seen Australia dominate the game and to do so in a sometimes-shameful way does take the gloss of an era of otherwise awesome sporting success story.

Sunil *sunny* is right and it should stop NOW.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Donut: 4. The Spirit of the Game involves RESPECT for: - Your opponents - Your own captain and team - The role of the umpires - The game’s traditional values There is room in the game for banter, there is room for commenting on your opponents ability but personal abuse is wrong.

Isn't that what Shane does?

"Maaate, you're a tough c__t aren't you?" - Is praising the persons inner fibre. It could be read as sarcastic if the player is near tears when it's said, but that's really Shane trying to lift the guys spirits. Especially if they're from England. He loves English people.

Or Glen McGrath
"The next one'll knock your f_____g head off mate" - Is a much needed warning against personal injury, where the bowler is telling the batsmen what he's going to do. How sporting! Do baseball pitchers do that? NO! They try to trick baseball batters.

Or Steve Waugh?
(To an unlucky South African) "Mate you just dropped the world cup" - was a warning he shouldn't make such silly mistakes in a world cup final! How thoughtful of Steve to take a minute to instruct his opponent! How sporting!


Mind you... I'm having trouble taking a lecture on the games traditional values, respect for opponents and sportsmanship from a Londoner from the land that invented BODYLINE and changed the game forever.

[ 07-31-2003, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Yorick ]