So often defined as a game played by gentlemen, Sport.co.uk delves into cricket's darker side to prove that even this most elegant of pursuits can end up mired in controversy.
1) The Underarm Bowling incident; Australia v New Zealand @ the Melbourne Cricket Ground [February 1981]
Picture the scene – it’s the last over of the Third one day international in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup and New Zealand require 15 runs for victory to take a 2-1 lead in the series. After a couple of lusty blows from Richard Hadlee and Ian Smith, followed by a few quick wickets, it was left to Brian McKechnie (Kiwi number 10) needing 6 from the last ball of the game. Australian skipper Greg Chappell ordered the bowler (younger brother Trevor) to deliver the ball underarm, to prevent any chance of the ball sailing over the boundary and notified the umpire of his intentions. Little brother duly obliged and the ball was rolled down the pitch to the disgust of the New Zealand batsman, with even several Australian players taking issue with what they had just witnessed. The move was subsequently banned by the ICC and to this day Greg Chappell has never been completely forgiven. And just to add a little spice, the ball was actually a no-ball but the umpire had not spotted in all the commotion that Dennis
Lillee had not walked into place and thus meaning Australia had too many fielders outside the field restriction line.
2) Dennis Lillee’s (mate’s) aluminium bat; Australia v England 1st Test @ the WACA, Perth [December 1979]
The fiery pace bowler was unbeaten overnight in the opening test of the 1979 – 1980 Ashes series down under and when he came out to bat the following morning, with his country struggling, he brought with him innovation... in the form of an aluminium bat. Lillee’s friend ,Graham Monaghan manufactured the bat, and Lillee himself saw this as the right time to market the new product. That was until England captain Mike Brearley complained that the bat was damaging the ball and complained to the umpires. They duly obliged and Lillee was asked to change his bat. The 12th man was sent on with a conventional willow and, after much deliberation, Lillee begrudgingly accepted the normal bat as he flung his aluminium bat away in an act of petulance. The bat was never to be seen again – and they said any publicity was good publicity...
3) Muttiah Muralitharan No-Balled by Darrell Hair; Australia v Sri Lanka Boxing Day Test @ MCG [December 1995]
With a double-jointed wrist and a deformed elbow, Muttiah Muralitharan toured Australia in the 1995-1996 season having been recognised as a force to be reckoned with as a “mystery” spinner. But as it happens, one person’s mystery is another person’s foul-play, and Muralitharan’s unorthodox action was called into question during a bowling session at the MCG when he was no-balled 7 times in 3 overs by umpire Darrell Hair in front of a sell out crowd of 55,239. Then Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, queried the umpire’s decision and subsequently removed Murali’ from the attack. This left a bad taste in the mouth as Ranatunga left the field to consult with the Sri Lankan management team before eventually come back onto the field. The ICC then looked into Murali’s action and amended the rules to allow a small degree of bend in the elbow. Hair later commented in his autobiography that he would have no-balled the spinner “27 more times” had he not been taken off...
4) Grant Elliot felled and run out at The Oval; England v New Zealand O.D.I [June 2008]
In the 44th over of the match, with New Zealand needing 26 runs for victory, Grant Elliot pushed at a Ryan Sidebottom delivery which dropped at his feet. Kyle Mills called for a run and set off from the non-strikers end; Elliot stuttered and then set off for a run and in doing so, collided with Ryan Sidebottom who was scampering to field the ball. With both players laid out on in the middle, Ian Bell fielded the ball to Kevin Pietersen who then removed the bails at the end that Elliot was running to. Whilst he was obviously out, the fielding captain (Paul Collingwood) had the option to withdraw the appeal as it was clear that the whole set of events was an accident. Though, while Elliot received treatment on the field, Collingwood chose to uphold his appeal and Elliot was sent back to the pavilion to the disgust of the New Zealand dressing room. New Zealand went on to win the game on the very last ball, sparking wild celebrations on the Kiwi balcony and a lot of fist-waving and verbal volleys aimed at the Eng
land balcony from the usually reserved Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori. As for Colly, his tenure as England captaincy never recovered...
5) Terry Alderman gets slapped by a member of the Barmy Army; Australia v England 1st Test @ The WACA in Perth [1982-1983 Ashes series]
Crafty, pace bowler Alderman always claimed to have the edge over the England batsman (and who would disagree, as he helped himself to 42 wickets against the Poms in the 1981 Ashes series). And like all Australian fast bowlers, he was never one to shy away from a conflict – during the first test of the Ashes series he was fielding near the boundary when an England fan ran onto the pitch and slapped him on the head. Alderman then chased the fan and tackled him to the ground but in doing so he dislocated his shoulder. As a result, Alderman was forced out of cricket for an entire year...
6) Gary Pratt runs out Ricky Ponting; England v Australia 4th Test @ Trent Bridge [August 2005]
Throughout the 2005 ashes series the England management came under scrutiny for the use of substitute fielders to allow them some rest time away from the middle. These “comfort-breaks” were deemed unsportsmanlike, as the rules were being used to allow bowlers the chance to get refreshed and recuperate after a spell. So you can imagine the uproar in the Australian camp when in the 4th test of the series, after Damian Martyn pushes the ball to cover, substitute fielder Gary Pratt rushes onto the ball and throws down the stumps at the strikers end with Ricky Ponting just short of his ground. Having looked to be in for a big score this was a massive wicket for England and was almost certainly a match-changing moment. Ponting was less than amused and launched a foul-mouthed tirade at Duncan Fletcher and the England balcony as he trudged back to the dressing room. The irony was that Pratt was actually replacing the injured Simon Jones...
7) Shahid Afridi digs in; Pakistan v England @ Faisalbad, Pakistan [November 2005]
Given the political climate in the Islamic country, it was unsurprising that even the explosion of a faulty gas cylinder from a drinks dispenser would stun the stadium into silence and cause play to be halted immediately while the source was investigated. With a down injured and security forces making sure everything was ok on the side of the field, most of the players on the field found themselves drawn towards to the boundary, where this was all taking place. Not one Shahid Afridi; having been fed up with the lack of assistances offered by the Faisalbad track, he walked onto the track and dug his heel into the ground (on a good length). He then span around sharply three times and walked off as he had done no wrong. Soon Marcus Trescothick noticed said marks and sought answers from the umpire and the Pakistan captain (Inzamam Ul-Haq). Unbeknownst to Afridi, it had all been caught on camera as he found out when Kevin Pietersen gave him an impression of his foolish antics as they walked off for the end of the
days play. He was subsequently banned for a test and two One Day Internationals.
8) Pakistan refuse to come back out; England v Pakistan 4th Test @ The Oval [August 2006]
During the 4th day of the 4th Test the umpires (Darrell Hair and Bill Doctrove) began to suspect that the Pakistani team had been involved in ball tampering- as a result, England were awarded five penalty runs and a replacement ball. The Pakistan players seemed perplexed by this but play continued until the tea break, but the Pakistani players refused to take the field thereafter in protest at the decision. The umpires came to the dressing room and ordered the Pakistani players to resume play, but they still refused to leave the confines of the dressing as they deemed the punishment was totally unjustified. The umpires returned once more 15 minutes later and after waiting two more minutes the umpires removed the bails and declared England winners by forfeiture (the first time this had occurred in over 1000 tests). The Pakistani team did take to the field 25 minutes later, 55 minutes after the umpires first took to the field for a resumption of play, but the umpires refused to continue the game stating that th
e game had already ended with a Pakistani forfeiture the moment the bails were removed, even though both teams were willing to continue the match.
9) Inzamam tries to take out a spectator; Pakistan v India, Sahara Cup @ Toronto [1997]
Being quite a rotund man, Inzamam Ul-Haq was always prone to the odd jibe about his weight. However during a One Day International in Toronto he seemed to take particular exception to an Indian supporter, who had been comparing Inzamam to several kinds of potato, on a megaphone. It was then that the Pakistan team's 12th man, Mushtaq Ahmed, came out and waited at the boundary with a bat. Eyewitnesses reported that Inzamam then tried to make his way into the crowed to get to the man with the megaphone. Canadian police managed to restrain Inzamam, but not before he had done some damage, and took him back on to the field with the Pakistani batsman still trying to get back into the stands. After reviewing footage of the incident Canadian police arrested Inzamam and charged him with two counts of assault and one of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on bail of $3,000 but was also banned for for two ODIs with a suspended ban of one further game by the match referee.
10) Shahid Afridi chews the ball; Australia v Pakistan 5th Commonwealth Bank One Day International @ The WACA, Perth [January 2010]
It’s difficult to decide which is worse in this embarrassing debacle dubbed Bite-gate- the incident itself where Shahid Afridi takes the white ball and starts trying to bite chunks out of it, or the ridiculous apology offered afterwards where “Boom Boom” claims that he was merely trying to smell the ball! Eventually Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and was banned for Two Twenty20 matches but one can only imagine what he was thinking doing something so foolish especially in an age where there are so many cameras around the ground scrutinising on every minor facet of the game.