Justin Langer believes McGrath, Sarwan sledge ‘crossed the line’

IT’S one of the ugliest sledging exchanges we’ve seen in modern times, and new Australian cricket coach Justin Langer said it still sticks in his mind as one that “crossed the line”.

Langer, appointed to replace Darren Lehmann on Thursday, said one of his responsibilities in the role was to lead Australian cricket into a new era, putting in the past a damaged culture that culminated in the dismissal of three players.

Australia’s reputation for sledging reached a nadir in South Africa when an ugly exchange between David Warner and Quentin de Kock precipitated the infamous ball-tampering affair that led to the downfall of Warner, captain Steve Smith and Cam Bancroft.

When asked about cricket’s culture of sledging, Langer recalled the infamous incident between Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan in 2003 when the latter made comments about McGrath’s wife.

“I probably saw two incidences in my career where it (sledging) got really personal and it crossed the line,” Langer said.

“I think back to there was one with Glenn McGrath with Sarwan in the West Indies that was a very sensitive time for Pigeon at the time but it probably crossed the line and there was consequences for that.”

The incident occurred during Australia’s fourth Test against West Indies at St John’s, when Sarwan was en route to a game-changing century.

After a period of verbal niggle between the pair, tension escalated.

In the penultimate ball of one McGrath over, he was hooked for four runs. Not one to back down, the very next ball he pretended to hurl the ball back at Sarwan, who flinched. McGrath can be seen calling Sarwan a “p***y”.

Then it got nasty.

McGrath to Sarwan: “What does Brian Lara’s d**k taste like?”

Sarwan replied: “I don’t know, ask your wife.”

This response set McGrath off. At the time, his now-late wife McGrath was battling cancer. McGrath, clearly incensed, approached Sarwan and let him have it.

“If you ever f***ing mention my wife again I’ll f***ing rip your f***ing throat out!” McGrath yelled.

Langer, then a teammate of McGrath’s in the Test team, can be seen pulling Sarwan aside in an attempt to mediate the ugly incident.

Fast-forward to 2018 and it was another personal comment about a player’s wife — this time Warner’s — at the centre of a fiery exchange in South Africa.

On Thursday, Langer said there was a difference between personal sledges and good cricket banter and that he was focused on drawing a clear line between the two.

“October every year I read the same headlines and I laugh ... every team that comes over and they say ‘how are you going to combat the Australian sledging?’

“And they say ‘we’re not going to be afraid of Australian sledging’ and it’s great headlines.

“We’ve always played hard, I think some of the best banter’s among each other to try and get the opposition thinking about other things, but that mental toughness is about being 100 percent focused on the next ball.

“We all know what the accepted behaviours there are. There’s a difference between competitiveness and aggression and we’ve got to be careful with that.”