Can’t stamp out sledging: Boucher |
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Tuesday March 25, 01:02 AM
Chennai, March 24: "Sledging is never going to leave the game," declared Mark Boucher, one of the senior members of the visiting South African Test side here on Monday. At the same time, he believes the Test series against India, set to begin on Wednesday, will be played in the right spirit.
Boucher, the world record-holding wicketkeeper who took his mark past Adam Gilchrist’s once again in the recent series against Bangladesh, may seem to have contradicted himself when he spoke of it not being good for the game to "take the competitive streak away" from players by banning sledging.
So far there has been no official intimation on the problem of sledging from his team, Boucher revealed. "We haven’t got a briefing (from within the team). We’re all mature enough to realise what we can and cannot do. You talk about sledging, I don’t think that’s ever going to completely leave the game.
"You’ve got two very competitive sides playing for their country it’s always going to be there. So long as everything is kept above board and played in the right spirit, there shouldn’t be a problem," said Boucher.
The recent India-Australia proved how intense games could fuel gamesmanship. Harbhajan Singh who was in the centre of much controversy during the tour Down Under however got support from Boucher. "It’s about a competitive nature on the field. I’m fighting hard for my country, he’s fighting hard for his. Both of us have never overstepped the mark and hopefully that will continue in this series." he said this in response to the verbal jousts between the two in the past.
A few South African players may have expressed the need for a warm-up game before taking on a side like India but Boucher said the rest at home after the tour of Bangladesh has actually helped recharge the batteries. "It wasn’t so much of a physical rest, but mentally it definitely helped. Now it’s good to get back in the nets. Staying at home and taking a break kept us mentally fresh."
Boucher knows a thing or two about conditions here and expects the team to get acclimatised in a day or two. "It is not new and something that we have experienced before. Hopefully the ice baths will be working and the boys will lose a little weight on this tour," said Boucher.
South Africa have done better than other touring sides in the recent past and they have had some success against the spinners. Boucher said striking the right balance between attack and defence against the spinners was the key. He added there had been times when they lacked the attacking approach against good spinners in these conditions. "If the time arises maybe we will attack a bit more but for that you need get yourselves into a position in the game where you can do that."
The visitors have come here with a predominantly seam oriented attack and Boucher said he was pleased with the composition. "We don’t worry too much about conditions anymore. We know that with the seam attack we have we’re going to get wickets. We’re very fortunate that we have a good spinner in Paul Harris who has done a good job. We’re pretty confident that we’ve covered all our bases."
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