In this article let’s take a look at what sledging is all about and why does it take place in the first place in sports like cricket and football and how you can handle, deal with and overcome the sledging in sports like cricket.
This is the most comprehensive guide you can find online regarding what is sledging and how you can deal with it in cricket and other sports.
So without further ADO let’s get started.
What is sledging & why does it take place in first place?
Sledging is a term used in cricket to describe a devious practice whereby some players seek to gain an advantage by deliberately insulting or verbally intimidating the opposing player. The purpose is to try to weaken the opponent’s concentration, thereby causing them to underperform or be more prone to error.
As you have learnt earlier the main purpose of sledging in cricket and other sports is to distract the players and effect the concentration & focus of players so that others can make mistake and lose their wicket for example in cricket the opponent fielders
sledge the batsmen to force him to react to the words and distract his focus, concentration and force him to make errors and mistakes while hitting cricketing shots so that they can either get caught out in the field or get bowled out.
What are the rules of sledging in cricket?
First of all it is very important to know that sledging is a part of cricket and this is what makes cricket not just a physical game but also mental game between the players.
And when it comes to rules and regulations of sledging in cricket, of course there are rules and regulations which will monitor sledging and bad behaviour of players from ICC code of conduct rules.
Under the ICC regulations, players may be fined a percentage of the salary, banned for number of matches, or even banned for a number of years or life. The ICC appoints a match referee for each Test match, One Day International and Twenty20; the Referee has the power to set penalties for most offences, the exceptions being the more serious ones.
Cricket’s considered to be a gentleman game and the ICC Code of Conduct is part of the ICC’s continuing efforts to maintain the public image, popularity and integrity of cricket by providing: (a) an effective means to deter any participant from conducting themselves improperly on and off the ‘field-of-play’ or in a manner that is contrary to the ‘spirit of cricket’; and (b) a robust disciplinary procedure pursuant to which all matters of improper conduct can be dealt with fairly, with certainty and in an expeditious manner.
As a Batman you can either report to umpire of bad behaviour and sledging from the opponent players and if the sledging goes beyond point of limit from the fielders then umpires can take action or if the umpires notice any bad behaviour and miss code of conduct from fielders towards the opponent players or
from stump mic then they can either charge some fine of x percentage of amount of money the player will earn like 25% from the money he earns in the match after completion of match, the player will also get demerit points due to that offence or even ban the player in the middle of series due to miss code of conduct and bad behaviour on the field if the offence is of a higher level.
For example, Kyle jamieson who is the New Zealand fast bowling allrounder has used some inappropriate language aka sledging towards Yasir shah against Bangladesh in test match for which he was fined a 15% of the match fee and has got one demerit point after the completion of match.
This is where the code of conduct rules of ICC comes into picture in order to make the players stay disciplined on the field & act below the rules and regulations because millions of people watch cricket on the television across the world and many children and youth take inspiration of cricketers in their life so code of conduct rules are very important in cricket match.
The level of punishment the umpires can impose will depend upon the level of offence and for more information you can check out this PDF of all the rules and regulations of code of conduct from ICC by downloading it here.
Now that you know there are bunch of rules and regulations and code of conduct which will monitor sledging but most of the sledging in cricket goes unnoticed and what you can do about it as a cricketer.
Conclusion
I hope you have now understood what sledging is and why does it take place and how you can handle and deal with sledging in sports like cricket and football.
Do comment down what are your thoughts regarding sledging and how do you handle it in the comments section below.
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