SLEDGING – The art of talking, to, with, or at an opponent with the expressed intent to negatively impact his/her performance.

Some of the greatest athletes of all time used this strategy – the most obvious being Muhammad Ali. He teased Joe Frazier, calling him a gorilla and even sledged the great Sonny Liston.

He realised by getting into an opponent's head, it could adversely impact their technique and ultimately their output.

In Bermuda, many spectators are oblivious to the fact sledging transpires on a weekly basis.

St.George's teams of the 1980s and '90s were renowned for using this ploy. Most surprisingly, such tactics were released on world class opposition such as the Australian Test team that visited our shores in 1992. That team comprised the Waugh brothers, Allan Border, Geoff Marsh, Dean Jones and Co.

The team was here fresh after hammering the West Indies 4-1 in the Caribbean. Still, Wendell Smith's Cup Match team was not intimidated and on the day, Noel Gibbons, Clevie Wade, Kenny Phillips and Anthony Braithwaite reduced this formidable team to 147 runs on a lightning fast Wellington Oval pitch.

The most memorable piece of sledging occurred during the Australian innings when Mark Waugh was struck in his inner thigh causing him immense pain, by a sharp off cutter from Kenny Phillips. "Great ball Kenny, do it again," keeper Allan Douglas remarked.

A startled Mark Waugh jerked his head around to see the slip cordon laughing at this joke.

Needless to say, Waugh was not amused, especially as we were to him, but a bunch of village cricketers. He proceeded to back away from the next delivery and hammered an impressive off drive over the long off boundary. He then attempted to duplicate the stroke only to have his off stump pegged back. Six and out! Surely he would have told his team-mates about the cocky group of fielders he met that day at Wellington Oval.

Unfortunately, St.George's fell a few runs short of an infamous victory that day. Jamaica however, were not excused the indignity of such a plight when they too visited the Wellington Oval a year or two later.

Robert Samuels and Delroy Morgan were the feature players in that team; however they met a St. George's line-up that was firing on all cylinders at the time.

When Clevie Wade trapped Robert Samuels lbw for a paltry single digit score, he punched the air in Tiger Woods like fashion while his team-mates told Samuels: "Welcome to Wellington Oval, you might have beaten up everyone else in Bermuda, but you won't be leaving here with a victory".

Just as Mark Waugh did previously, he too turned around in surprise. His facial expression said it all shock, dismay, surprise.

However the key and rule of thumb is if you are, you'd better be able to back it up. On that memorable day Jamaica set St. George's 172 to win.

Hours later, with St. George's on 170 for three and yours truly on 98 not out, Delroy Morgan purposely bowled a quick wide delivery so that it could go for four bye runs thus denying me of the satisfaction of achieving a century during the innings. Jamaica succeeded in this; however we attained a memorable victory.

Does it make it right? No. Is it a feature of cricket? Yes. The Australians are known for using this tactic relentlessly. During the days of Marshall, Walsh, Holding, Garner, Croft, and Roberts, the West Indians, I have been told, did not receive such banter for obvious reasons.

In the post Richards era however, more recent teams did hear the lip of the Aussies. One can still recall that day in the Caribbean when one Desmond Hayes held his bat up to the Aussie keeper in vexation. His anger was such that retaliation was imminent.

On the local scene, one batsman who never seemed affected by the extra-curricular chatting was Albert Steede. Such was his powers of concentration and determination that he refused to even acknowledge the banter.

He was to my estimation, undoubtedly, the most brilliant and most difficult to dislodge of all the Somerset batsmen. While batting, he displayed a remarkable focus that was unmatched by any of his peers. He was a great player both physically, and mentally.

Sledging however can take many forms. Some opponents go over the top though by discussing people's personal lives. I do not condone such conduct. However, it is inevitable that on the world stage you will encounter it.

There is no place for religion, creed, colour, sexual orientation or one's personal situation on a cricket field, but the reality is if it happens to you, mental toughness is your only way out. Once you see or hear a batsman responding then you know his concentration may be affected.

Mind you, that is not always the case as I would always respond when a team sledged me. Personally, I love when players sledged me because I used it as a motivator. The more they talked the more determined it made me want to succeed.

Anyway, the intent of this article is to continue in the vein of the last two weeks to inform our cricketers they may face verbal banter while on their trip to Namibia. This too will require mental fortitude to overcome the nonsense comments.

If you can recall Bermuda were in Namibia a few years ago and the game was cut short. Namibia were obviously frustrated that they did not make the World Cup and many of their players expressed their discontent by saying Bermuda were not good enough to be playing in the World Cup and that they should be going.

In reply our players told them to keep their mouths shut and watch us on TV while we play in the World Cup and this infuriated them. So angered by our remarks Namibia's fast bowlers deemed it necessary to continuously bounce our number 11 batsman Kevin Hurdle, an act of non sportsmanship, which prompted coach Gus Logie to call Hurdle in ending the game abruptly. This was Namibia's way of retaliation to the sledging that had taken place.

So I advise Bermuda's cricketers, you are not going into a comfortable arena to play. You will have to have all the facets I have preached about recently. As a team you will have to work together showing unity and you must possess mental toughness as you will come up against opponents who will do almost anything to win including making racist remarks.

Their main aim is to see you dismissed cheaply by any means necessary so that their job is ultimately easier. Do not be fooled. Like my good friend Albert Steede, don't succumb, but rise above it. Let your bat do your talking and let others, the spectators do the talking for you.

Too often players get involved in sledging and lose focus. I have seen the best of Bermuda's batsmen get agitated and so frustrated that they throw their wicket away and make all sorts of threatening remarks back at the player.

Always stay in control and if you are going to sledge remember the words of the great Robert Nesta Marley "Don't jump in the water if you can't swim".