Sledging doesn’t fall within spirit, or law

HAVING read the trailer on last week’s TCP regards to sledging dripping down into club and junior cricket, I was disappointed then to turn to Paul Nixon’s column to see the headline ‘Sledging is part of the game’ but hear him say he would ‘never tell players to sledge or not to sledge’.

More seriously, Nixon is quoted as saying: “Things that are said on the field aren’t meant to cause any real upset, but rather to take opponents’ focus off the game.”

Has Paul Nixon read the Laws of Cricket, I wonder? The preamble to the 2000 Code stated that it is “against the Spirit of the Game to seek to distract an opponent either verbally or by harassment with persistent clapping or unnecessary noise under the guise of enthusiasm and motivation of one’s own side”.

The preamble to the 2017 Code (in force from October 1, 2017), after stating that “the major responsibility for ensuring fair play rests with the captains, but extends to all players, umpires and, especially in junior cricket, teachers, coaches and parents”, focuses on respect as being “central to the Spirit of Cricket”, and among the bullet points has this: “Create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct, and encourage others to do likewise.”

Sledging, whatever words are used, designed to “take opponents’ focus off the game” is the every antithesis of this principle of the Code.

Moreover, if the language used is “obscene, offensive or insulting”, it is a Level 1 offence, requiring the umpire to issue the team with a final warning (and, if repeated, to award the opposing team five penalty runs), and to report it to the Governing Body.

DAVID LAMMING, Chairman, North Essex Cricket League