in 2002, booth returned to the public spotlight when he condemned the sledging, or verbal intimidation tactics, that are used in modern cricket. he stated "i can't remember in the games that i played in, i can't ever remember being sledged, and i can't ever remember sledging anybody", in reference to steve waugh's australian team, which was perceived as being too hostile. in the australian edition of the 2002 "wisden cricketers' almanack", he wrote a chapter titled "the curse of sledging".