15 Shameful Events In The History Of Cricket

Originated in England, Cricket is known to be the gentlemen’s game. On many occasions, players who are on and off the field have rightly proved this tagline. Their tremendous energy and sportsmanship spirit on the ground have already put so many examples for the new generations.

However, there have been many instances when the cricketers have brought damped the image of the sport. The behaviours of a few cricketers have put a bad image in front of the whole world.

Let us take a look at the 15 shameful events in the history of cricket:

Also read: Shubman Gill Becomes The Youngest Indian To Score A First-Class Double Century

15. England cricketers urinating on the cricket field

In yet another case of a celebration gone wild, England cricketers were spotted urinating on The Oval pitch after their 3-0 Ashes series win against Australia. The players reportedly urinated on the pitch to celebrate their third successive win over their bitter rivals.

Several England players including Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson took turns to urinate on The Oval pitch to the cheers of their teammates around 11:30 pm. Disrespecting the wicket which has given so many things is certainly one of the shameful acts in the history of cricket.

14. Monkeygate Saga

Away from the glare of what was turning out to be a fascinating Test much between India and Australia, one of the most infamous episodes in the game took the centre stage on a bright Sydney afternoon on day three.

Harbhajan Singh was batting well and had just scored a fifty when Brett Lee aimed a bouncer at the Indian off-spinner, but he was upto the task, cutting the ball over slips for a boundary. The Turbanator said “hard luck” and applauded the bowler’s efforts by patting his bat.

All-rounder Andrew Symonds was having none of it. He has a word with Harbhajan and chaos descends. The Australians seemed convinced that the Indian cricketer had taunted Symonds with the word “monkey”, a racially offensive insult. The match referee pressed a three-match ban on Harbhajan but later demoted it to only using abusive language after India threatened to pull out.

13. Bodyline Bowling

Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team during the 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was specifically done to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia’s Don Bradman.

A bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball was bowled at the body of the batsman, in the hope that when he defended himself with his bat, a resulting deflection could be caught by one of several fielders standing close by. Critics considered the tactic intimidating and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a gentlemen’s game.

12. The fight between Javed Miandad and Denis Lillee

Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad were two of cricket’s most high-profile players in the 1980s. These two illustrious characters came up against each other when Pakistan toured Australia in 1981-82, with explosive consequences.

Denis Lillee was giving a tough time to the Pakistan batsmen during that tour. Pakistan lost two early wickets, and skipper Javed Miandad was out in the middle. Miandad turned Lillee behind square for a single, and in completing an easy run, he collided with the bowler. Eyewitnesses agreed that Lillee was to blame and most observed that he had deliberately moved into the batsman’s path. Later on, Miandad lifted his bat above his head as if to strike him before the onfield umpire stopped him.

11. Suraj Randiv deliberately bowling a no-ball

With Sehwag on 99 not out, the scores even and one delivery left in the match, Randiv bowled a no-ball to prevent the India opener from completing his century. Although Sehwag hit it for a six to win the game, but it was not included to his total because cricket laws count the extra run first.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket suspended Randiv and also levied fine on him for his actions which is a shame to the gentlemen’s game.

10. Underarm bowling

On February 1, 1981, Australia played New Zealand in a one-day international cricket match in the final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup in front of jam-packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Trevor Chappell bowled the last ball underarm along the ground to New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie. These instructions came from his elder brother and Australian captain, Greg Chappell. With the Black Caps needing a six from the last ball to tie the match, Greg Chappell decided to order the underarm delivery to deny New Zealand any chance of tying the game, let alone winning.

9. Match-fixing scandals

Fixing a match is one of the most shameful acts in the history of cricket. There have been many incidents when a player fixed a game in lieu of a hefty amount. Saleem Malik of Pakistan was the first-ever international cricketer banned from cricket for match-fixing in 2000.

Since then, many such instances have occurred the most notable of all was when Pakistan cricketers fixed a Test match against England at Lord’s in 2010. Some of the notable cricketers banned for fixing allegations are Mohammed Azharuddin, Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Lou Vincent, Marlon Samuels, Mohammad Ashraful, Ajay Jadeja, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt.

8. Denis Lillee batting with an aluminum bat

During the Perth Test when England toured in 1979, Australian pacer Dennis Lillee, the overnight batsman at the end of day one, walked out to bat on day two with a bat made of Aluminium. It was a marketing stunt by the Aussie cricketer to promote his friend’s company.

Soon after, England captain Mike Brearley complained to umpires Max O’Connell and Don Weser about the bat damaging the ball and the officials consulted and instructed Lillee to change it for which the latter refused. The argument went on ten minutes before Greg Chappell had to come out and pacify the situation.

7. Ricky Ponting abusing Javagal Srinath

Australian players are always known for their bad behavior throughout the cricket world. This incident had happened when there was a test match played between India and Australia. Indian bowler Javagal Srinath bowled a bouncer to Ricky Ponting which copped him a blow.

In such a case rather than pacifying the situation with a smile, the former Aussie skipper preferred to abuse Srinath and asked him to back off right away.

6. World Cup semifinal suspended

The 1996 semifinal between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was marred by a vociferous crowd which couldn’t bear to see India bow out of the World Cup just before the final.

Chasing 252 runs, India made a good start with Sachin Tendulkar looking good. But once he got out, the middle-order crumbled as the host lost their next six wickets in just 22 runs. The crowd went out of control when the defeat looked evident and started throwing bottles to ground and even burned their seats. No further match was possible, and match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the game to Sri Lanka who went on to lift the World Cup.

5. Gautam Gambhir’s collision with Shahid Afridi

India and Pakistan in one of the greatest rivalries in the world of cricket. The brimming political tension between these two neighbouring countries has also made an impact on the cricket pitch. The intensity among the players always remains high.

A massive brawl broke out between Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi during the Kanpur ODI in 2007. The two players were seen exchanging words after the batsman hit Afridi for a boundary which was followed by a mid-pitch collision. Umpire Ian Gould had to intervene before the matter was resolved.

4. Michael Clarke’s collision with Sachin Tendulkar

During the second finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series in 2008 at Gabba, Brisbane, Michael Clarke, the bowler, rammed into Sachin Tendulkar while trying to stop a single after Gautam Gambhir had pushed the ball to mid-on. The Aussie cricketer succeeded, as Tendulkar was flat on the ground.

Although the players don’t have any bitterness among them Clarke not repenting for his action took everyone by surprise.

3. Sri Lankan and Indian cricketers banned

A massive fight broke out between the Sri Lankan cricketers and Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma during the third Test when India toured Sri Lanka in 2015. Ishant, who was in fine form, gave fiery send-offs to many Sri Lankan batters. But the event turned ugly when a brawl broke out between Dammika Prasad and the Delhi-born pacer. Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal also got involved and made physical contact with Ishant.

Later ICC had charged 3 Sri Lankans Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhammika Prasad along with Indian pacer Ishant Sharma for breaching the ICC players Code of Conduct.

2. Sunil Gavaskar almost forfeited a Test match

In the 1981 series that had been dogged by some inconsistent umpiring, a Dennis Lillee in-cutter caught Gavaskar plumb in front and umpire Rex Whitehead, standing in just his third Test, raised the finger.

But Gavaskar, who thought that the ball had got his bat on the way to the pad, protested by standing his ground long enough. As Gavaskar reluctantly started to leave, Denis Lillee reportedly made one comment too many, and the Indian snapped, returned to the crease and instructed fellow opener, Chetan Chauhan, to walk off the pitch with him. Later on, after repeated efforts from the manager and Chauhan, Gavaskar left the field.

1. Sammy Jones-WG Grace

Controversies and war of words were part and parcel of the Ashes rivalry, and one cannot think an Ashes without all these. Similarly, one incident happened during the 1882 Test Match, which is one of the earliest controversies in cricket. Legendary England cricketer WG Grace and Aussie batsman Sammy Jones were involved in a bitter incident.

Jones hit a Grace delivery to the point fielder and took an easy single. He grounded his bat at the other end and then turned to pat down a bump in the pitch. The fielder, Lyttleton threw the ball to Grace, and the latter removed the bails and appealed for a run-out for which the umpire Bob Thoms adjudged it as out. The incident motivated Australia who won the Test match bowling out England for just 77 runs.