Steve Waugh approves sledging |
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Sydney: Steve Waugh says he is happy for his Australian players to create mental pressure on opposing batsmen through the controversial practice of sledging. The hard-nosed Australian team was roundly criticised last month during the tour of West Indies when fast bowler Glenn McGrath launched a foul-mouthed tirade at West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan during the fourth Test in Antigua. The images of McGrath finger-pointing and screaming at Sarwan over something he apparently said prompted Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland to tell Waugh to rein in his players' emotions. International Cricket Council's former president Malcolm Gray said "greater action and more action" should have been taken by the umpires over McGrath's behaviour and that the Australian public viewed the flare-up as "beyond the pale". Umpires David Shepherd of England and India's Srinivas Venkataraghavan took no action following McGrath's mid-pitch rant at Sarwan. Waugh, speaking at a luncheon here today, said he did not condone "saying something directly against someone", but was happy for his players to create mental pressure with their chat. "Our team likes to talk amongst ourselves in order to put a doubt in the batsman's mind. I am all for that," he said.
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