​​​​​​​These are the Days of 'Smart Sledging'

Overall, the player behaviour is very good and verbal exchanges are less personal in today’s cricket. Greater understanding and growing cross-national friendships is not the only factor at play here, though. I think players also understand that brazenly AGGRESSIVE and personal sledging is both distasteful and not actually very effective anymore.

World cricket has changed dramatically in the past decade,and the one change that has been less spoken about is with sledging. The days of hurling personal insults, physical intimidation and general boorishness have thankfully gone.

Of course, given the high stakes and passions in international cricket, you still see tension on the field and players continue to get hot-tempered at times. However, in general, the player behaviour is very good and verbal exchanges are less personal.

MUCH OF THIS REFLECTS the fact that international players simply know each other better these days. In the 1970's and 1980's, indeed even in the 1990's, the world’s best players mainly played country-versus-country cricket. There were a few exceptions mainly due to County Cricket, but the absence of domestic cricket leagues, where overseas players participate, meant that your opponents were rarely team-mates and friends. In today’s world, though, especially since the rise of the Indian Premier League, cricketers have developed relationships much more easily with players from different nations.