Is sledging right or wrong? Your view

Ben Stokes (left) and Marlon Samuels (right) clashed in the World T20 final this year

Often crude, sometimes creative and occasionally funny, sledging is now an established part of cricket.

As old as the game itself, on-field verbal sparring has grown in prominence and infamy since as players sought out a psychological edge to match their physical skill.

Ben Stokes has opened up the debate on the rights and wrongs of the practice, suggesting umpires often exacerbate incidents by being too quick to intervene.

The England all-rounder, who has been involved in heated exchanges with West Indies star Marlon Samuels in the past, told the BBC: "We're trying to win a game here playing for our country, so give us a bit of leeway."

So is sledging right or wrong and should it be an accepted part of the game? Here are some of your comments on the issue:

The argument for...

Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad clashed in 1981 during a Test between Australia and Pakistan

HMMurdoch: You can't have top level sport without the banter. As long as tempers are not flaring, and there is no physical confrontations, there should be no problem.

thetruth: To all the old farts going on about "gentleman" and "class", etc - what a load of old tosh. This ain't the 19th century. We don't give each other 3 hoo-rahs at the end of the game any more either. I want MORE sledging. I want nose to nose squaring up. I want the bowler to scream obscenities at the dismissed batsman as he points him back to the pavilion. I want Miandad v Lillee on steroids!

Kenners: I suspect, given their views, that some people commenting haven't played much league cricket, where the sledging is pure abuse. In comparison what we see in International cricket amounts to nothing. Completely agree that we don't want to see football like abuse, but sledging is part and parcel of cricket and has been for thirty years. Would we prefer them to be silent for 5 days?

The argument against...

The competitive nature of the Ashes between England and Australia has often led to bust-ups between players

JonnyC: Leave it on the football pitch, no one can deny a clever piece of sledging/goading is very entertaining and good when it works e.g. 'Mind the windows, Tino'. But Stokes altercations with Samuels were actually quite uncomfortable to watch. I personally don't want to see that on the cricket pitch again.

Hirstys Puma Kings: No need. Let the Cricket do the talking and leave the trash talk to the Boxers! I played a one-off game for a local team when they were short. Having just hit a boundary back over his head the opposing bowler, young whippersnapper can't have been more that 14, came right up to me and gave me all kinds of abuse. Some on here would call it getting under my skin, I called it extreme provocation.

neverknowinglyundersold: I have watched my two boys play a lot of kids cricket and seen sledging get very personal and unpleasant in those games. The older players, as with any sport, are the role models to the young and as such have to be responsible and accountable for their actions on and off the field. Sledging can be humorous but too often gets out of hand so for me it's better that the umpires step in when they do.

WurzelJ: 'I despise the common herd and stand aloof from them' (adapted from Horace). We do not need to sink to Australian depths. Polite good manners and a firm handshake when we beat them. Tattooed plonkers belong on the football pitch, Stokes. If only Nigel Evans was an umpire : 'the football ground is over there' is his way of handling theatrical stupidity from people who should know better.

Templar: Ghastly multi-coloured, swap-shop shirts, penalty shoot out T20 games, football wages endemic. So why not. Lets have more even sledging and totally trash what remains of the ethos of cricket. God forbid anyone should remember cricket was once a metaphor for fair play.

exxyeddie: Stokes is misguided. He is a role model whether he likes it or not. Young children imitate footballers diving and abusing the referee and young children will imitate sledging

Somewhere in the middle...

Fielders will look to gain an advantage by planting doubt in a batsman's mind

BigRob: Hmmmm. for every hilarious sledge (Jimmy Ormond and Mark Waugh springs to mind) there are more of the vicious offensive ones (Michael Clarke to Jimmy Anderson for example). Junior cricket ie. under-16 it should be totally outlawed and clamped down on hard when it occurs but over-16's I don't see it being right to restrict/bin it.

jd2013: There is definitely a line that shouldn't be crossed between a bit of witty banter and outright sledging. The odd comment when you go to the wicket from the keeper is expected - observations to other fielders about your technique or getting you out. It shouldn't ever get personal or be used as a tactic to unsettle a batsmen or seek an unfair advantage. You know where that line is.

And one humorous example...

West Indies' Viv Richards was involved in one of the most famous pieces of on-field "banter"

Jernarta Meen: Greg Thomas had beaten the bat a couple of times and says to Viv Richards "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering." Richards smashes the next ball out of the ground and into a river, at which point he says "Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go and find it." Not really sledging, but made me smile.