Posted by John Nichols on January 01, 2006 at 20:43:41 from 24.250.147.241 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Bowdlerising AR (was: Bowlderising AR) posted by Peter H on January 01, 2006 at 18:44:31:
Ed:
Let us say I am a bowler in cricket, being the person who chucks the balls. You are a batsman, the person who has to stop the ball hitting the stumps. If I walk past you and say "your sister wears Army boots to bed" than that statement is sledging. Not good sledging, but I think you get the idea. The idea is to upset the batter, for obvious reasons. A good batsman would of course respond with some statement about the bowler, ........................... related say to his wife, mother, sister, partner etc.
As we say in Australia - just fun and humour.
From wikipedia:
sledging (cricket)
In cricket, sledging is exchanging words with an opposition player which can put them off their usual game; it is an attempt to "psych out" an opponent. It can lead to an unexpected decline in performance and is not in the spirit of the game.
Instances of sledging
2003 - Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath exchanged words with West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan. According to a report, McGrath was alleged to have said "If you ever f###ing mention my wife again, I will f###ing rip your f###ing throat out."
2004 - Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was alleged to have called Ronnie Irani's mother a "whore".
Of course in the first McGrath example you can see the level of language achieved in Australia at the highest levels of sport.
Sources
Lighter examples of sledging (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/funny_old_game/3068365.stm)
The Age - Warne Sledge (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/06/1091732055253.html?from=storylhs&oneclick=true)
Sledging part of Latham's cricket days (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/04/1073151212472.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true) Requires registration
JMN