Pattinson says Oz team doesn’t plan sledging before matches

Sydney: Australia fast bowler James Pattinson has said the perception that the team plan to unsettle opponent batsmen with verbal attacks is wrong, and added it happens on its own on the pitch.

Pattinson added his sledging of South Africa captain Graeme Smith in the drawn series opener in Brisbane wasn`t premeditated, as he claimed the opening batsman’s wicket in the second innings at the Gabba after a sustained verbal attack. “It`s not really spoken much about in the inner sanctum of the team. It`s just one of those things that happens when you get out there,” a leading Australian daily quoted Pattinson, as saying. “If you can see a way in by sledging someone when you`re out there then definitely, by all means it`s probably a good thing. But one thing we don`t do is purposely go out there and say we`re going to get in the ear of this batsman or that batsman,” he added. “I don`t whether it was the sledging because Smith is a pretty cool customer and has been around for quite a while, whether it was just good bowling or whether it was something else,” he said. Pattinson added: “The one thing going into Brisbane, we didn`t have a plan to go out there and give them stuff.” “When you go out there and purposely try and do stuff like that, then sometimes it does backfire. It`s all about reading the conditions, reading what is happening in the game and then going from there,” he said. ANI