Brett Lee Reveals The Greatest Sledge He's Ever Heard, It's Absolutely Ruthless

Australian cricket royalty Brett Lee has opened up on the greatest sledge he has ever heard.

And, unsurprisingly, it's an absolute belter.

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In cricket, perhaps more than most sports, there's a lot of trash-talk that goes on during the matches.

In sports like boxing, that exchanging of verbal pleasantries often happen before the two fighters go toe-to-toe, but in cricket that mental warfare is non-stop.

So naturally, when you're one of the best players in the world, you're going to be a target of opposition players and fans.

But rather interestingly, the best sledge that Lee has ever heard wasn't directed at him.

"I reckon the best sledge I've ever heard was at a grade game actually, in Sydney grade cricket," Lee told news.com.au's I've Got News For You podcast.

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"It's one of those days. Rain's falling, you're on, you're off (the field) type of thing. You can't find any momentum.

"So someone in our first grade team said, 'Let's come up with what we believe is the ugliest cricketer in Australian cricket currently', whether it's first-class cricket or even grade cricket.

"So we're going through what we thought was our ugliest XI. Anyway, we get back on, batsman comes out, takes centre, he's scratching his crease.

"My mate at first slip goes, 'Hey champ, we've just come up with out ugliest XI and mate, looking at you right now through your lid, you are captain of the ugly XI'.

"He turned around and said, 'Oh really? Well I can see your missus on the hill mate and she's batting three'.

"True story. It's quick, it's brilliant."

Classic.

Instant classic.

Surely something that sharp has got to be pre-planned though, right?

Well, not all the time as it's those spontaneous one-liners which are truly the best in Lee's eyes.

"It's got to be off the cuff," he added.

"Sledging's got to come from the heart. It's got to be quick-witted. It's got to be spur of the moment.

"In all honesty, the thing with sledging is that 99.999 per cent of the time, there's nothing untoward. You don't racially vilify someone, you don't swear so the kids at home are listening in.

"It's always funny stuff. You sledge someone to try and put them off their game. It's got to be fun.

"We aren't robots. You know the line you can't cross. If you cross it, you have to pay the consequences but most times it's fun and it actually makes the batsman or the bowler laugh, that's the whole objective at the end."

Topics: Cricket, ashes, Cricket News, Australia

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry