Sledging has gone beyond control, rues Marsh

Dubai, Nov 15 (UNI) Dismayed at the widespread sledging that plagues modern day cricket, former Australia stumper Rodney Marsh urged all stakeholders in the game to get together and clean up their act.

''It is not confined to one team only. Almost all Test playing teams are involved now. Everywhere I go there is a lot of chatting and noise. There is so much of nonsense being said by all sides,'' Marsh was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.

Known as ''Iron Gloves'' in his earlier days for slipshod keeping before he formed a lethal combination with Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Marsh said there was no such war of words in his playing days.

''Those days there was no sledging. Why would you bother to sledge or distract a batsmen when you have Lillee and Thomson? ''If they can't, then your talking will not get the rival batsmen out,'' said Marsh.

Apalled by the situation, Marsh said, ''It is completely out of hands and one man can't stop it. All team players have a responsibility to clean their act.'' Asked to explain Australia's current hegemony, Marsh said, ''The infrastructure for the game is superb. Australians, like in all other sporting disciplines, work very hard. And above all we have a fine set of players.

''Whatever is the system you follow you can't be dominant unless you have fine players,'' he said.

''Over the years Australians have played a major role in wars and from that have developed a trait to fight hard. They are fighters.

Even in domestic cricket they fight for victory and this quality is evident on the international scene.

''Added to this is the fact that the Australians enjoy playing the game. The current team is a fine bunch of players who enjoy their cricket and that is another reason they have been at the top for such a long time,'' Marsh said.

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