



James Anderson admits he turned the air blue over Ravindra Jadeja

Abusive language ... England fast bowler James Anderson

Abusive language ... England fast bowler James Anderson

James Anderson has won two man-of-the-match awards and been man of the series already this season, but he would not win many prizes for clean language after details emerged of his sledging against India, and Ravindra Jadeja in particular.

Cleared by an Australian judge of shoving Jadeja in the back during lunch on day two of the Trent Bridge Test, because of a lack of evidence, Anderson did admit abusing him telling Jadeja to "f--- off and get in your dressing room".

Anderson has been a sledger for a while now and sledging has been around since W G Grace's time. It can be witty, but mostly it is unedifying, as umpire Bruce Oxenford's witness statement concerning the fast bowler from Trent Bridge can attest.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Suffice it to say that Anderson did not contest claims that he called Jadeja a "---ing prick" and "---ing c---." There is also a claim by India that Anderson allegedly said he would "break Jadeja's teeth" but it is not placed in context. Fast bowlers make threats like that all the time when they have a ball in their hand. Of course if Anderson had said it while the pair confronted each other then it could be construed as threatening behaviour, which is a breach of the public order.

Bad language is not a banning offence, something India tried to pin on Anderson by lodging their charge under a level three offence. Indeed, MS Dhoni, India's captain and a man central to pushing the charge through, had said at a press conference that he did not mind the aggression or the bad language, but that physical contact - the push - was forbidden.


India appear to respond badly to sledging, which is probably why some teams target them. There were some very ugly scenes when they played Ricky Ponting's Australia in 2007-08, with India threatening to fly home mid-series after a particularly fractious Test in Sydney.

It appears that Dhoni and his team were fed up with Anderson's antics. But with many international umpires hailing from Australia, the home of sledging, they realised nobody was going to get reported. The spat in the Trent Bridge pavilion during lunch on the second day offered them an opportunity, albeit one that has now been quashed by Gordon Lewis, the Australian commissioner who cleared Anderson.

Lewis's decision has not been met with unanimous praise, and there are murmurs that India will lobby Dave Richardson, the International Cricket Council's chief executive, to get him to appeal against the verdict.

Only two people can appeal a decision made in respect of a level three charge - the guilty player, and there are none of those, or the ICC chief executive. But even if Richardson felt the case justified an appeal, which is unlikely given the judgment was not botched but arrived at because of a lack of evidence, there is certainly not enough time to conclude it before Thursday's Test at Old Trafford.

According to a leaked copy of Lewis's judgment seen by ESPN Cricinfo, the commissioner was presented with two versions of events and no independent evidence.

"Essentially, the Indian position is that without provocation, Anderson pushed Jadeja in the back causing him to turn around," Lewis's verdict said. "Jadeja said Anderson continued to abuse him in the corridor and had ultimately pushed him in the back.

"According to Anderson's version of the incident it was Jadeja who was the aggressor and without provocation. In the corridor, as they approached the steps that led upstairs, Anderson said that Jadeja suddenly turned around and aggressively came towards him and 'got right up in my face'.

"Anderson said he then used his right arm to push Jadeja's shoulder to get him to turn around and go back towards the Indian dressing room. He agrees he said words along the lines, 'f--- off and get in your dressing room'.


"When a tribunal is dealing with someone's livelihood, sanctions of that magnitude require a standard of proof that is more than on the balance of probabilities and again I was not satisfied that an onus requiring a standard of proof at that higher level, had been discharged."

The London Telegraph

4 comments so far

  • I would take what India says with a grain of salt honestly biggest bunch of sooks to play the game

    Date and time
    August 04, 2014, 5:04PM
    • India should not threaten like they did in Australia. They should just pack their bags & go home. Anderson has accepted that he has abused Jadeja. But he was let off scott free. Where as David Boon (an Australian) who was the adjudicator level 2 offence against Jadeja believed what English players said & fined him 50 % of his fee. So in the end it is victim who got punished. If you notice whenever an English & Australians adjudicate Indians Indians are punished, whereas English & Australians usually are not punished.

      Date and time
      August 04, 2014, 7:38PM
      • Short memory, Ven. Forgotten the monkeygate affair already? Strangely you Indians were outraged at that event too - because the allegation had been made. Didn't hear a peep when HS got off Scott free - with key evidence of his prior conviction for the same offence mysteriously disappearing.

        Apparently only non-Indians do bad things.

        Double standards, my friend.

        Date and time
        August 04, 2014, 10:06PM
    • So because the umpires were Australian, the home of sledging, they didn't care about "you effing C", " you effing prick" and an allegation of following a player off the ground and shoving him. Strange, I have been following Australian cricket for 30 years, and I have never heard that language used on the field, nor any allegation of it being used. And I certainly don't remember any Australian test player following anybody off the ground and pushing them.

      And with all the cameras, microphones and two umpires on the ground, people would pick it up if it is happening.

      So, whatever Mr Pringle. Maybe the real issue here is that the officials are just sick and tired of being pushed around by the Indians - everything from use of technology, media rights, threatening to call off tours if their player is found guilty of a misdemeanour, trying to get the SAs to change their officials before they would tour there, refusing to play under certain umpires... And so on ad infinitum.

      Sir wafflealot
      Date and time
      August 04, 2014, 9:39PM

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