On sledging

Ricky Ponting awoke with a start.
"What a nightmare," said his racing heart.
"They are planning to master
Our sledge trick - disaster!
Or else why would they call it an art?"

The Telegraph Calcutta 27/02/08: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, fresh from leading India into the tri-series finals, on Tuesday said sledging is an art and the Australians have perfected it but it won’t take long for his boys to learn the tricks of the trade. Get the story here

The mother of all abuse

In a match, when two players got irate,
The referee said, “Boys, get this straight.
You may well hurl abuse
At your moms, if you choose,
But you can’t call each other primate!”

Daily Telegraph 29/01/08: Indian defence for Harbhajan Singh. Get the story here. Cricinfo 30/01/08: Insufficient evidence against Harbhajan - Hansen. Get the story here

In the new age of sportsmanship, it appears that monkeying around with moms is considered the lesser evil!