Sledging is irrelevant: Clarke

Dubai, June 14 (UNI) The Australians may still swear by the art of swearing at opponents but odd man out Michael Clarke believes that sledging belongs to ''old school'' and has little impact on the game.

''It has changed a lot,'' Clarke, 21, said.

''In the old school there was a lot more of what some people call sledging and we call banter.

''I think it's still there to a certain extent but I also think players have come to realise that at the end of the day, what someone says is totally irrelevant,'' the middle order bat, tipped to future Australia skipper, was quoted as saying by 'Gulf News'.

Clarke, who played alongside master sledgers like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, said the bowlers mostly sledge not to unsettle the opponents but to fire themselves up.

''In some cases it can help,'' he said. ''For example Warnie used to love getting into a confrontation because it made him bowl better.

''To the public it was 'Warnie is sledging again', but the fact is that he was struggling so he was trying to get himself going because he knew that if somebody hit back, he would perform.'' But for Clarke, it does not have an impact on his own game.

''It has absolutely no affect. Sledging when I bowl doesn't help the way I play and if somebody sledges me when I bat it doesn't bother me. In fact I laugh.

''People always ask what my greatest sledge is but, to tell you the truth, I don't remember because to me it's so irrelevant.'' UNI