With everyone here at Sportsnet getting excited about the Boxing Day test, we thought it would be fun to have a look at the great tradition of sledging and some of the greatest Cricket sledges of all time.

Where did the term “sledging” come from?

According to Ian Chappell, the term “sledging” originated at Adelaide Oval in either the 1963–1964 or 1964–1965 Sheffield Shield competition. He claims that a cricketer who swore in the presence of a woman, was said to have reacted to an incident “like a sledgehammer”. The result being that the direction of insults or obscenities at opponents became known as “sledging”. But the practice really is as old as cricket itself.

Sledging is all part of the gentleman’s game of cricket and is simply about putting the pressure on your opponent and putting them off their game. Obviously the hope is the more personal the sledging, the more effective.

Now for some of the greatest sledges. That we know of…

• Rod Marsh to Ian Botham, “So, how’s your wife and my kids?”
• Shane Warne to Paul Collingwood after England’s Ashes success of 2005: “You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at The Oval? That’s embarrassing.”
• Glenn McGrath and Eddo Brandes going head to head. Brandes played and missed after which McGrath asked: “Oi, Brandes, why are you so fat?” Brandes replied, “Cos every time I sleep with your wife she gives me a biscuit.”
• Michael Atherton stood his ground during an appeal for a catch behind. At the end of the over, wicketkeeper Ian Healy called Atherton a “—-ing cheat”. Politely, Atherton shot back: “When in Rome, dear boy.”
• While on tour of the Caribbean, Merv Hughes kept staring down Viv Richards after each delivery. In the end, Viv snapped. “This is my island, my culture. Don’t you be staring at me. In my culture we just bowl,” Viv said. Merv let it go until he sent Richards on his way, “In my culture we just say —- off.”
• Darryl Cullinan had spent two years on the sidelines due to injury and poor form as he made his way to the wicket Warne said to him “I’ve been waiting for two years for another chance to humiliate you” to which Cullinan replied, “Looks like you’ve spent it eating.”

And last but not least…

• The great Dennis Lillee had an ongoing sledge that he used with batsmen, “I know why you’re batting so badly. You’ve got some s**t on the end of your bat.” As the batsmen would investigate his bat, Lillee would suggest, “Wrong end mate.”

Thanks to Fox News and The Art of Sledging.com.

IT’S shaping up to be a brilliant summer of cricket in Australia. The Ashes Tour is set to revitalise Aussie cricket after a couple of comfortable summers for the Australians on their home soil.

The English are talking themselves up to be the Golden Generation of cricketers after their 5-nil whitewash of Australia in the NatWest Series just fresh from winning the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

Andrew Strauss’s men will have extra motivation against the Aussies following their embaressing 6-1 defeat in the corresponding Ashes series last year.

So is Australia ready for such a challenge? They appear primed under the leadership of Ricky Ponting. It is as if they need a challenger in test matches because they have so often just bustled aside their opposition in recent years with relative ease.

South Africa was perhaps its biggest challenger in the past few years. The South Africans were brilliant in Australia over summer and if the English can live up to expectations, you’d expect them to make a similar match of it.

There are still many chinks in the Australian armour. Yes they have some young talented cricketers surging towards stardom, but there isn’t the amount of depth that there was when the team was at its peak in the early to mid 2000s.

Of course, they would love some of Shane Warne’s spin magic and some of Matthew Hayden’s steady centuries but they have built a new generation of cricketers that are living up to the same name.

The English appear to be following the Aussies in the way they have conquered the world. Its World Twenty20 win shows they have a lethal combination for one day matches, but the tests will be a massive test for them.

Tell us what you think. Will England provide the contest we’re hoping for in this year’s Ashes series?