Sledging will be key to Ashes success, says Jeremy Snape
Tuesday 7 July 2015 17:54, UK
By Sky Sports News HQ reporter Rob Dorsett
“You may be playing in a packed stadium in front of 30,000 people, with millions watching at home on TV, but the loudest voice for a batsman is the one in his head.”
So says Jeremy Snape, a man who, when it comes to sledging, has been there and heard it all.
Snape was an able off-spinner who won 10 ODI caps for England and played in 121 first-class matches. Since retiring from cricket seven years ago, he completed a masters degree in Sports Psychology, and in recent years has worked as a performance coach with South Africa and twice with Sri Lanka – most recently, during the World Cup in the spring.
Snape is adamant that sledging will play a huge part in the upcoming Ashes series.
“Sledging is a key tactic,” he admits. “The idea is to provide a verbal distraction to another player – usually a batsman – and it can be hugely effective. Something can be said early in a Test match or even in the warm-up, that stays with that player for the rest of the series.
“I liken it to the memories we all have of our teachers,” he explains. “If a teacher said to you when you were young and impressionable that you can or cannot do something, that comment stays with you for the rest of your adult life. It’s the same idea when it comes to sledging.
“The temperature in a player’s mind is key: if you’re too “cold” and detached, you can become complacent and make mistakes. The ideal temperature to play in, I describe as “warm” – that’s when you’re in the zone, in a bubble almost – immune to what’s going on around you in the field. You’re in control. That leads to optimum performance.
“But if you are affected by sledging, you can become too “hot” in your mind – angry, wound up – and that can lead you to be overly aggressive, overly emotional in your response, and this can be dangerous for a batsman if it means you’re out of control, or that your decision-making isn’t at its best.”
And the Ashes is a series unlike any other, where emotion and rivalry are taken to new heights. Witness in recent memory, the explosive celebrations when Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar survived for a draw in Cardiff in 2009; or when Michael Kasprowitz and Brett Lee failed to do the same at Edgbaston in 2005, before Andrew Flintoff famously consoled the latter instead of celebrating with his team-mates.
“The highs and lows, the personal battles will be fascinating. And it feels like every emotion is heightened when it comes to the Ashes. It encapsulates the battle within cricket, which is such a psychological sport. For example, if the captain moves in a short gully or silly point, you can interpret that positively as a batsman, and think ‘he can’t get me out, so he’s becoming desperate’. Or, if you’re mindset isn’t so strong, you can interpret it negatively, and think ‘does he know I’m vulnerable to the short ball, or that I’ve been out like that in the past?’ All of a sudden, you’re thinking about what NOT to do, rather than thinking positively about what you’re intending to do.
“That’s how sledging works. If you listen to what your opponent is saying to you, it can lead you to self-doubt, and ultimately to self-destruct.”
When it comes to the differences between the two squads, Snape doesn’t see any significant weaknesses for either group, and he believes both will be sledging to their best advantage.
“The stereotypes would suggest that the Aussies are far more brash and arrogant – that they’re brimming with confidence – whilst the English are more gentlemanly, classical stroke players. Don’t believe a bit of it,” he says.
“You only need to look at Ben Stokes, who is archetypically aggressive, or Steve Smith, who is much more quiet and reserved, to see that stereotypes don’t stick.
“However, the Australians are significantly more experienced than England, and whilst that might lead to some English sledging about “Dad’s Army” and their physical prowess, the Aussies will be able to draw on that huge experience in developing a thick skin to whatever is said to them. Likewise, the Aussies might feel that they can exploit the relative inexperience of some of the England youngsters – as you mature in cricket, you are more able to make yourself impenetrable to chirping and sledging.
“The Aussies are definitely favourites to win the series – they won the last one 5-0, but I can’t see that leading to any complacency on their part, or to any feeling of inadequacy on England’s part. Everything about England right now shouts “start up” – lots of young players, and a new head coach in Trevor Bayliss.
"But they have some momentum from how well they’ve done recently in the one-day game, even though many of the players aren’t the same, and they are playing with a new effervescent freedom. Whether the old hands of Australia allow them to continue playing in that way in the Test arena, we will have to see.”
Snape, like the rest of us, cannot wait.
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