Cheating in cricket is a contentious issue that has plagued the sport throughout its history. While cricket is often celebrated for its values of sportsmanship, fair play, and gentlemanly conduct, instances of cheating have cast shadows on the game’s reputation. Cheating can take various forms, ranging from minor breaches of etiquette to more serious offenses that undermine the integrity of matches and competitions. In this article we look at some instances in cricket history.
1. Merv Hughes “Walking” Incident
In 1993, Australian bowler Merv Hughes was given out lbw, but he refused to leave the crease. This moment led to a humorous confrontation between the umpires on the ground and Merv Hughes.
2. Shahid Afridi Ball-Biting Incident
During an ODI match against Australia in 2010, the esteemed Pakistani player Shahid Afridi was caught on camera biting the cricket ball in between the overs to make the movement of the ball unpredictable. As a result, the umpires had to step in, and action was taken against Afridi.
3. Inzamam-ul-Haq Ball Tampering
In 2006, in a test match with England, Pakistani cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq was accused of ball tampering in between the overs to grant his team bowler unfair advantage. This led to immense criticism and strict action was taken against the player.
4. Brad Haddin
In a test between India and Australia in 2008, Shane Watson bowled a length delivery to Sachin Tendulkar who flicked it to fine leg. The ball was about to pass the wicket keeper, Brad Haddin, but he tried to stop the ball by throwing the gloves in the ball to reduce its speed. As a result, five runs to India as per law of the game.
5. Sanath Jayasuriya
Australia bowler Steve Waugh bowled a disguised slower ball to Sanath Jayasuriya, who failed to read the pace the of the ball and hit a very mistimed shot. The ball went straight to fielder and was a simple catch. However, Sanath refused to leave his ground and argued that the ball had hit the ground before the catch.
6. South Africa Versus Australia
This test match being played in Australia and Australia was batting at 232 at loss of four wickets. One South African fielder was caught using his underarm sweat to shine the ball. Thankfully the umpire noticed this and gave a warning to the player to not do it again.
7. Muttiah Muralitharan’s No-Ball Saga In Australia
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day in 1995, Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled by Darrell Hair for illegal bowling action. It became the main news of a tense summer of cricket in Australia. Initially the Sri Lankan team thought that the umpire had given a no-ball for a front-foot violation but when they came to know that this was not the case, tensions bubbled over.
8. The Underarm Ball
In 1981, Australia and New Zealand were competing each other in a World Cup series. New Zealand needed six runs on the last ball and Greg Chappell, the skipper of the Australian team asked his brother Trevor to bowl the ball underarm. After this incident the rules were changed, and underarm bowling was regarded against the game spirit.
9. IPL Spot Fixing
In 2013, three Indian players namely Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, and Ajit Chandila were involved in spot fixing. These three players were arrested by Delhi Police. However, in 2015 all the charges against these players were cleared and they were found to be innocent.
10. Sandpaper Gate
In March 2018, the Australian cricket team was involved in ball-tampering scandal in the third match against South Africa in Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft was caught by cameras trying to rough one side of the ball with sandpaper to make its movement unpredictable.
