Steve Waugh is doing for sledging what Bill Clinton did for sex - redefining it.

Just as former US President Bill Clinton famously redefined sexual intercourse during the Monica Lewinsky affair - a definition that allowed him to say "I did not have sex with that woman" - so the Australian cricket captain can say "we do not sledge".

"My definition of sledging is when someone has been giving personal views in a one-on-one situation, or a group of individuals against one person.

"I believe that is sledging," he said in India.

He said Australians didn't sledge and the practice was unacceptable in world cricket.

His version of events cut across world opinion with former Indian star Sunil Gavaskar saying recently that Australia was the world leader in sledging, laying the blame at Waugh's feet.

Gavaskar warned the world that players may come to blows if personal abuse was not stopped immediately.

"Those who are defending sledging are (in fact) those who practice it," said Gavaskar, taking a swipe at the Australians.

Waugh said sledging was "misinterpreted" and that there was a lot of conjecture about it, sticking to his mantra that Australia tried to force mental disintegration but didn't do anything nasty.

"We want to intimidate the opposition in our own way," he said.

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