Anderson was fined 50% of his match fee for his altercation with Runako Morton. I wonder if it would have been more had he followed it up with a beamer and a massive deliberate no-ball from 20 yards??

Sreesanth's beamer was not deliberate.

And Jelly Beans weren't thrown onto the pitch when Zaheer Khan was batting.

Some of the English players called Sreesanth as Harry Potter just because he was wearing spectacles while batting. I think players should not use others shortcomings while sledging. Insulting him because he was wearing spectacles is equivalent to making fun of his poor eyesight. The Jelly beans incident is plain disgusting and the offenders should be banned for a game or two.

Another thing that annoys me extremely is that certain people assume that what is acceptable in one country and culture would be likewise in others. Casually thrown in b*****d or ****** words might be routine in England, but they are not elsewhere and might be considered as a deeper insult than intended. It would be nice if international sportsmen of all countries are trained to practice a bit of friendly etiquette with their opponents instead of resorting to childish and petulent pranks that are not suitable for professionals.

I recall a great moment in the 2006-7 Ashes when Warne bowled a terrific googly at Hoggard who completely misread the ball which missed his off stump by a coat of paint. Hoggard looked up sheepishly, grinned and nodded briskly at Warne, acknowledging the great ball. Warne smiled and nodded back.

I know that Warne is not innocent of his share of sledging, but Hoggard certainly is and so in that incident the Aussie instinctively responded in kind. That is an example to show that good behaviour can also be infectious.

Are you really telling me that the sub-continent sides and South Africa never use words in Urdu, Hindi or Afrikaans that would be considered foul or abusive? How would the match referee and umpires police them?

I cannot speak for Urdu or Africaans but I have not heard Hindi or other language equivalents of the commonly used English expletives while watching cricket in India. There are no exact equivalents and those that exist are not commonly used by anyone as swear words anyway. The most common Hindi word that I have heard occasionally used as a muttered sledge among Indian players is "sala" which literally means (if my limited knowledge of Hindi is correct) "brother-in-law"! Why this should be an insulting swear word - and it is considered so in Northern India - is beyond me.

Another reason for the relative lack of common sledge words in the Indian team could be the fact that their mother tongues are so different. Kumble, Laxman, Dravid & Sreesanth come from the South and although they probably can speak acceptable Hindi, I doubt if that langauge comes naturally to them.

It was not always like this anyway. Former England players like Codrey & Barrington were very popular in India; I recall going to see the England team in 1963-4 series in India on 2 occasions. When Barrington came in to bat in Madras, the cheers he got would have made a local hero proud.

I'm with you there, Nostromo. The players should remember they're there to play cricket and to entertain. Watching and hearing some of these childish antics is not pleasant. Please do note the receptions given to the likes of Tendulkar over here, the top players do get a good reception - I remember the send offs given to both Ambrose and Walsh. It's not all bad.

brilliant!

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Freddie Flintoff=God

'Sala' means wife's brother. When you call someone sala, you suggest physical relationships with his sister. So if you call an Indian sala and if you are not actually married to his sister, you are in trouble. Sala is not taken so
seriously in India though. Like you said, its one swear word used frequently in India.

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My computer can beat me at chess.....but its no match for me at kick boxing.