5 biggest controversies in West Indies cricket 

#4 Rebel tour to South Africa

When the West Indies rebel team visited South Africa, the political implications reached fever pitch.

South Africa had been boycotted from international cricket due to their apartheid regime and treatment of colored people in their own country, but they had a strong desire to be part of the international game.

To that end, they started offering huge amounts of money to international cricketers to tour the country and play cricket against local teams. It remains one of the most controversial moves in modern cricket and one that is still considered a shameful episode in the careers of most cricketers.

When England first toured as a rebel team in 1982 there was widespread controversy, but when the West Indies rebel team visited South Africa, the political implications reached fever pitch. Considering the treatment of blacks in South Africa, it was unthinkable that a team of black cricketers decided to tour the country.

Active Test cricketers stood to earn $120,000 while those who had not played Test cricket would be paid $100,000 over two seasons.

Players like Lawrence Rowe, Colin Croft, Sylvester Clarke and Ezra Moseley among others went on those tours. Many of the players were on the fringes of selection but never quite made it to the team and were often not as well paid.

So, it all perhaps made sense, but the controversy never died down and even to this day, those cricketers are not respected by the locals.