David Warner - Quinton de Kock’s ugly spat: Is cricket losing its funny bone?

The first Test match between South Africa and Australia at Kingsmead in Durban that the visitors won by 118 runs to go 1-0 up in the four-game series made the headlines more for non-cricketing reasons. The fourth day of the match saw some ugly animosity between the players from either side taking shape, especially between Proteas keeper Quinton de Kock and Australian vice-captain David Warner.

CCTV in the stairs leading to the dressing rooms at the tea break on Day 4 of the Test saw Warner being tamed down by some of his colleagues, including skipper Steve Smith. It was alleged that de Kock made a reference to Warner’s wife after the latter continuously sledged him while batting with centurion Aiden Markram to save the match for the hosts. Warner then reportedly hit back again by referring to de Kock’s sister and the cycle went on.

The spat took a very ugly shape and the administrators had to step in. The former greats of the game also expressed their views with some seeking a strict dealing with the offender. The de Kock-Warner show was not the only one in the game, however. Australian spinner Nathan Lyon too had his share of penalty in the game after he reacted to AB de Villiers getting run out in the very first ball he faced in South Africa’s second innings. Overall, it was a Test that both teams will remember for a long time to come.

However, going by what Harsha Bhogle called an “immature” brawl at Kingsmead, one can’t help but ask the question whether cricketers today have lost their funny bones and take things too seriously, resulting in the administrators and law-makers entering the scene more than not?

Sledging on the ground is not something new in cricket. Especially for the elites of the game, sledging has been a skill they have mastered over the years to corner the opponents. In series involving Australia, sledging is always a common occurrence. But the controversy that snowballed around the South African wicket-keeper and the Australian vice-captain was a bit too much. People with a mature head would have put the lids on fast to settle things on the ground itself. But this one became more personal and uglier.

But sledging, even those targeted at things that are personal, did not always lead to a calamity in the past. There have been instances in the past when a player’s jibe was returned with an equally humorous jibe, making the art of sledging look a superior form. There was no need for the cricket law enforcers to take a stand in those cases.

“I am still the best player in my family”

Take, for example, the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval played in 2001. When a lesser-known James Ormond came out to bat for England, Australia’s Mark Waugh taunted him saying what was he doing there for he was not a player fit enough to appear for England. To this Ormond, who played just two Tests in his career, retorted by saying he might not be fit enough but he was yet the best player his family produced. We all know that Mark has often been judged second-best to his brother Steve Waugh in terms of batsmanship during their playing days and Ormond’s reply was a clear winner for England even as the hosts were beaten comprehensively in that series.

“How’s your wife and my kids?”

Rewind further back, to 1986-87. It was another Ashes and it was being played in Australia. The hosts’ keeper Rodney Marsh, in an effort to unsettle the legendary Ian Botham, asked him: “How’s your wife and my kids?” To this, Botham, who had hit a magnificent century in Brisbane in that series, replied: “Wife’s fine. Kids are retarded.” This particular banter by Marsh was later voted as the best sledging ever in the history of the game but Botham’s response was no less catchy. These instances did cricket richer by adding to its appeal and it depended on the players’ sense of humour to draw the line where it suited the most. Warner and de Kock missed the Marsh-Botham like element in their own episode of sledging and since the attacks could never transcend the limits of meanness by attaching with them the wings of humour, it all ended up into a crass fight which required a referee.

Recently, a similar incident occurred on Twitter when India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made a strong reply to former South African player Herschelle Gibbs after the latter joked about his ability to run fast. These instances can be well handled if one is well-equipped with the art of humour. Today’s players perhaps lack the humour owing to the commercialization of the game a far too much.

“You are too fat to play cricket”

Another humorous incident had happened in Adelaide in 1990 when Pakistan was playing Australia. The visiting team’s temperamental batsman Javed Miandad had chosen to target the big mustachioed Merv Hughes from Australia. Miandad even taunted big Merv for his shape saying he was too big to play cricket and that driving a bus would have suited him most. Miandad even made toot sounds to signify an imaginary bus plying on the ground. For the bowler, it was far too much after a point of time and he had his moment in the same match. Miandad nicked a delivery from Hughes to Peter Taylor at gulley and as he walked past the burly bowler, the latter shouted out: “Tickets please.” Hughes was recently seen sharing the moment with compatriot Allan Border and New Zealander Simon Doull in a commentary box, leaving all in splits. This is what a lively sledging is all about. It makes everybody enjoy the moments.

Cricket is called a gentleman’s game because of its high standards of civility. We may not have the Victorian values still alive in cricket because of the changing times but we can still ensure that the temperament in the game remains cool. It remains a responsibility of the players today to ensure that the high standards of the game are maintained even in the most trying circumstances and personal issues are not dragged into controversies to make it uglier. We do not know whether Botham’s wife had lashed out at Marsh for his jibe unlike Dalean, de Kock’s sister who threatened to hit out against Warner in a tweet after the Durban ruckus. It’s not a healthy precedent and should be undone at the earliest available occasion.