Mark Taylor suggests yellow cards for sledgers

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has ridiculed the ICC's 'zero tolerance' approach to sledging, saying a football style card-system instead of a blanket ban on onfield showdowns was the right way to deal with the problem.

"You could have some sort of points system where an umpire who thinks you're having too much to say or being too confrontational could give you a yellow card and dock you points," Taylor, a member of ICC's cricket committee, was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

"Lose enough points and you get fined or suspended."

The ICC, in a letter addressed to all the boards and team captains, had asked for a zero tolerance approach to sledging after the BCCI called for a tough stand against the menace following India's acrimonious tour of Australia.

But Taylor felt any ban would be hard to implement considering the competitive nature of the sport.

"I think when you get a close series like we had this year with Australia and India, you are going to get confrontation," he said.

"Provided it's kept in reasonable check, it is all good. That's the kind of competition people want to see. We can't (go) over the top, make players the same and the game very boring," he added.

Taylor said a complete ban would also ignite a debate on appropriate on-field behaviour which would be even more harder to deal with for the ICC.

"I know there is the ICC code of conduct to follow, but once again we will still get debate over what is appropriate and what is not," he said.

"Saying someone was lucky they played and missed, is that sledging?" he asked.

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