In the August edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly leading writers were asked to give their opinion on sledging. Derek Pringle joins in the debate As long as it is not overdone to the point of tedium, or invokes racism, sledging adds a competitive dimension to cricket. Many of the best practitioners claim to use it to probe for weaknesses.

Shane Warne, who accompanies his prodigious spin with an even sharper line in banter, reckons sledging has won Australia important matches. He cites the time he talked Nasser Hussain into donating his wicket – out stumped having a wild yahoo – after Hussain had manoeuvred England into a winning position during the first CUB Series final at Sydney in 1998-99.

But it doesn't always work, as Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh discovered when they gave Derek Randall a volley, almost every ball, in the Perth Test of 1982-83. Randall scored a century right to save the match, but had the Aussies done their homework they'd have realised the folly of their ways.

Although the Essex captain, Keith Fletcher, was never short of a word to vulnerable batsmen like Alvin Kallicharran, he knew what made Randall tick. Whenever Essex played Notts he forbade anyone to say a word to the hyperactive Randall, who sought to dissipate his nervous energy by chatting to anyone within earshot. If the vow of silence worked, and it often did, the ban was lifted to wish him a hearty farewell.

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