The McGrath-Sarwan blow-up that made Australia go sledge-free against Bangladesh

In 2003, Khaled Mahmud Sujon’s Bangladesh took on Steve Waugh’s Australia for a two-Test series on Australian soil, in what was one of the most lop-sided matchups ever in Test cricket.

Bangladesh, unsurprisingly, could hardly put up a fight against the heavyweight side and lost both matches by an innings margin.

While recently speaking to Cricbuzz about the tour, Mahmud revealed that the Australian side was respectful off the field, and acted like professionals on it, and didn’t sledge the Bangladesh players throughout the tour.

“We heard the Australians sledge a lot but we didn't see any of it on the field. Steve Waugh's team didn't go anywhere near sledging. Even against a weak and inexperienced team like ours, their approach and application was 100% professional,” Mahmud was quoted by Cricbuzz.

Mahmud was moved by Australian team’s approach. However, what he perceived as a gesture of goodwill may have been an attempt at cleaning up the team’s image after an overreaction.

McGrath-Sarwan spat

Two months before the Bangladesh series, Australia had toured the Caribbean islands for a four-Test series.

In the final match of that tour, Australian pacer Glenn McGrath and West Indies’ batter Ramnaresh Sarwan got involved in an ugly spat.

McGrath, after his delivery, walked up to Sarwan and made a crude, homophobic comment which also involved Brian Lara.

Sarwan retorted with a jibe which referenced McGrath’s wife, who was battling cancer at the time.

McGrath lost his temper, and in between overs bellowed at Sarwan, “If you ever f---ing mention my wife again, I will f---ing rip your f---ing throat out.”

His outburst caused a huge media uproar in Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) also admonished its players.

The board’s chief executive James Sutherland spoke with Waugh, reminding him and his teammates their responsibilities as ambassadors for Australia. 

Australia head coach Steve Buchanan also said his players were ‘letting themselves down’ with their behaviour.

Ahead of the Bangladesh series, the Australia team were more wary about their on-field conduct.

“There are things that happen on the field that we are not happy with all the time. Obviously, the last tour was tarnished by one of those incidents,” the team’s vice-captain Ricky Ponting said before the series.

“But we’ve spoken about it, and we speak about it before every series and every tour that we go on. Let's just hope that those things don’t pop up again this time,” he added.

The Australian players refrained from any derogatory comments, but former Australia batter David Hookes stirred the pot by urging the hosts to win the Test inside one day.

Mahmud revealed that before the opening Test, Waugh approached him and told him not to pay attention to Hookes’ hurtful comments.

“Don't worry about it. It's just a mad man talking and I believe you are a much better team than that and you'll play well against us. I wish you all the best,” Mahmud quoted Waugh on Cricbuzz.

According to Mahmud, Waugh and Co even invited the Bangladesh players into their dressing room after both matches.

After around 23 years, Bangladesh are back in Australia for a two-Test series. The Australians have been respectful towards the Bangladeshis, with Travis Head overlooking Bangladesh’s 54-run capitulation against a Cricket Australia XI in the three-day warm-up match before the series.

Twenty-three years on, Bangladesh again find themselves the overwhelming underdogs and the Australians remain the gracious hosts.