“I don’t particularly like them.” That was it. That was the extent of James Faulkner’s supposedly outrageous and disrespectful ‘sledging’ of the West Indies last week.

It was hardly a harsh or crude comment yet it has been re-imagined as a vitriolic attack on the West Indian side by the Aussie all-rounder.

Many players have rivalries with other teams and have no fondness of those opponents. Faulkner was being honest that he doesn’t have a great rapport with the West Indians.

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Directly after that above quote, which has been relayed ad nauseam since and often incorrectly, he said this:

“Good players are good players. You have to do things to get under their skin and try and irritate them to try and get them off their game,” Faulkner said.

“Players do that to me and I do it to other players. It’s a fact of the game. A lot of it is played in your mind. If you can do something to upset somebody and upset their team, it goes a long way towards doing well as a group.”

Again, the 23-year-old is being up front, rather than talking in pre-rehearsed media speak about what happens on the field.

The mind games to which he refers are practiced by every single international team. Even at amateur level they are commonplace.

In almost every match I have played in local competitions, an opponent has directed some kind of so-called ‘sledge’ at me while I’ve been batting or bowling.



It is part of the sport and is mostly just gamesmanship, rarely ever crossing the line into abuse.

Such verbal sparring is routine in every sport. I have experienced it in most matches I have played in local Australian football or basketball competitions.

When it comes your way, you grin and either ignore it or fire a jibe back. If you let it get to you then your opponent has been successful in distracting you from the game and you are, in my opinion, a mentally weak individual.

Make no mistake, that is the aim of sledging – to get your opponent to focus on something other than their role in the contest.

This is exactly what Faulkner referred to above. Sometimes it goes too far. Faulkner has been guilty of that.

When he bowled West Indies kingpin Chris Gayle in an ODI in Manuka last year he reportedly told the batsman to “F— off” amid his celebration.

That is a boorish thing to say to a foe on the field and Faulkner was rightly fined for his indiscretion.

Yet he has received perhaps an even greater backlash over his harmless comment revealing he doesn’t “particularly like” the West Indies team.



After Australia lost to the West Indies, with Faulkner conceding the winning runs, the Tasmanian was pilloried.

His comment was referred to in the lead paragraph of many reports on the match, with Australia’s loss framed as retribution for his supposed disrespect.

On sports forums, social media and in the comments sections of websites like The Roar, cricket followers were quick to chastise Faulkner.

His comment was held up by many fans as evidence of the “ugly Australians”.

No such criticism was levelled at the West Indies’ for their wild celebrations after Darren Sammy hit the winning six.

Their entire side rushed onto the field while Chris Gayle and Sammy in particular made repeated, angry and forceful gestures directly at the Australian players who were grouped together.

It didn’t bother me in the slightest. The West Indies players were elated and surging with adrenalin following the tight win which saved them from potential elimination from the tournament.

I can’t help but think that had Australia won and done the same thing, with the likes of Shane Watson and Faulkner dancing and gesticulating towards their foes, they would have been lambasted. Yet the West Indies behaviour was described as “colourful” and “great for the game”.



The Faulkner incident pales in comparison to the laughable hoopla prompted by Michael Clarke’s battle with England bowler James Anderson in November.

When the stump microphone picked up skipper Clarke warning the batsman Anderson that his bowlers would give him a “broken f—ing arm”, it upset weak-kneed people across the globe.

Anderson was painted by many as an innocent victim subjected to heinous workplace intimidation. Never mind that the Englishman is known as one of the mouthiest players in world cricket and had allegedly just threatened to clout Aussie fieldsman George Bailey.

Then in South Africa, the comedy factor was taken to a new level when Australia were criticised for barking at Faf du Plessis after he was dismissed in the recent Test series.

Again, soft-as-butter types rushed forward to slam the Australians for their alleged vulgarity. Yet the Aussies were not barking at du Plessis as a means of abuse.

It was an obvious reference to the fact he had days earlier described them in the media as being like a “pack of dogs” on the field. Their canine mimicry was humorous, not villainous.

The same way that Faulkner’s comments were honest, not disrespectful.

Why don’t we all calm down about the Australians until they actually do or say something that is genuinely inappropriate?



Don’t worry, that time will come. Inevitably David Warner will make an ill-advised comment in front of a smiling press pack knowingly leading him down a precarious path.

But until that happens, stop trying to morph minor incidents into scandals. Just shut up and watch the cricket.