Quinton – The Perfect Sledge

Sledging has been going on in sport for centuries. Taunts, jokes, quips and even personal slurs have been part of gamesmanship for a very long time. The aim is the take your opponent’s attention off the task at hand, even for just a second, to gain an advantage.

I have heard some sledges that really crossed the line of insult and cruelty. At other times I have laughed like a drain at the cleverness and wit of a sledge.

Certainly, I do not want to see it disappear from sport.

A couple of weeks ago South African Wicketkeeper, Quinton de Kock, delivered what might go down in history as the most destructive sledge ever. He made a comment about Australian Vice Captain David Warner’s wife. Security cameras in the stairwell caught Warner as he completely lost it and in a fit of rage, launched himself at the South African Keeper.

The whole world saw it and I felt it was one of the worst things I had seen in cricket for a very long time.

Warner was admonished but all the while, underneath it all, was a level of “understanding” because something was said about his wife. This, I feel, was the crack that turned into an earthquake.

Many years ago, whilst I was conditioning coach at Richmond Football Club, I was giving Matthew Richardson a stretch just metres inside the boundary, just a few minutes before the game. A couple of opposition fans were hurling abuse at him and it was profoundly cruel and nasty.

I said to him, “How do you go with that Matthew?” He looked at me and said, “Johnny, I love those people. They pay my wages. They paid to come in, so they can say whatever they like. It’s not personal.”

Does David Warner realise that it is not personal? But he took it personally and nothing was done to send a message right through cricket that his reaction and ensuring actions is just not on. He should have been disciplined for bringing Australian Cricket into disrepute. But everyone stood back to see what the ICC would do and leave it at that.

It is not our business how South African Cricket might deal with de Kock. That is up to them. The highest authorities in Australian Cricket should have known that what David did was a terrible example to the kids watching across the world. It validated domestic violence. It was an extreme and obscene act.

But no genuine action.

In their tepid response, Cricket Australia completely and totally sanctioned bad behaviour in the Australian Cricket Team. They added righteousness to Warner’s actions. They added righteousness to the entire team. The leaders of the game, abandoned their team when they really needed it, in the harsh environment of South African Cricket where crowds can be so unwelcoming and the opposition tough.

This article is not intended to say David Warner is a bad person. I do not think that for a minute. But he did something really stupid and was not sincerely helped with it. His team mates were not helped.

Instead, the lack of leadership empowered them in becoming mercenaries.

There is an old Greek saying that says, “A fish stinks from the head down.” Perhaps it is time for the leadership of Cricket Australia, including the CEO and Chairman to follow Smith and Warner and do the only honourable thing and resign. They have failed dismally in their most fundamental of responsibilities, to uphold the integrity of the game.

Smith and Warner, and any other player involved, must do their penance and must make amends. They still have time to rebuild trust as everyone who makes stupid mistakes should have the opportunity to do.

And all of us must learn from the devastation of taking the comment of another person personally. We need to take a leaf out of Matthew Richardson’s book.

As for Quinton de Kock, his sledge didn’t just derail David Warner, it derailed the entirety of Cricket Australia. That is pretty impressive.