Five strange reasons why players missed cricket matches

Sometimes, unfortunate injuries force the cricketers to miss some matches whereas sometimes, they are given a rest due to their heavy workload. However, there have been instances where cricketers missed matches for weird and absurd reasons.

The legendary fast bowler from England, Sydney Barnes, refused to participate in 1920-21 Ashes, just because the MCC declined Barnes' request of paying for his wife and child in the tour. Former West Indies batsman Jimmy Adams missed a whole series as he was hurt badly after he cut his hand with a butter knife accidentally. Similarly, former English cricketer, Ted Dexter missed the 1965-66 Ashes after his right leg got crushed by his own car. And then there's Chris Lewis who missed out on a match because of a sunstroke.

Here are the five cricketers who couldn't attend matches or series due to some extremely weird and bizarre reasons:

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#5 Kidnapped

Billy Midwinter, who was eligible to play for either of England and Australia, got kidnapped by 'The Father' due to his own decisions. Billy Midwinter was kidnapped by WC Grace in 1878 after Billy chose to pad up for his adopted country instead of his home country.

The legendary all-rounder WG Grace was expecting Midwinter to play for his team, as Midwinter agreed to play for Grace's team when required. However, when the time came for the decision, he chose to play for the Aussies.

After Grace realized that his team was a player short, he furiously took a cab towards the visitors' dressing room and virtually kidnapped Billy Midwinter. Even though the promising all-rounder was finally seen in the field playing for Grace's team, he couldn't put off a good show, both with the bat and the ball; the only thing that happened was Billy missing the match for his adopted country.

#4 Fishing

Andrew Symonds' hobby of fishing has not favoured him at times. The former Aussie great was unable to attend the team's meeting, as he was busy fishing early in the morning on a day which he thought was a rest day.

After the incident, the Aussie leadership group decided to banish Symonds ahead of the 'Australia vs Bangladesh' ODI series. Disappointed Symonds had no choice but to accept the decision of the leadership group.

Even before, fishing had not been pleasant for Symonds, as he and Hayden had to swim for almost an hour after their boat sank off Queensland's North Stradbroke Island, an area well-known for sharks.

#3 Not Completing Homework

Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson, and Usman Khawaja were axed from the team squad by the then Aussie coach Micky Arthur for failing to complete their homework, aimed to improve the individual and team performances ahead.

After a humiliating defeat against the hosts by an innings and 135 runs in Hyderabad, Arthur assigned the entire squad to prepare a list of three ways that would help their better their individual and team performance, which could be shared email, text or a written note. The squad was given four days to submit their respective assignments.

However, Watson, Johnson, Pattinson, and Khawaja failed to comply with the coach's decision and hence were suspended, as per the decision of their coach and team management.

#2 Hitting Teammate with a Bat

The 'Rawalpindi Express' was sent back home ahead of the 2007 ICC World T20 after assaulting his teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat. However, Shoaib claimed that he had been provoked by Shahid Afridi by targeting his family. Shoaib claimed to have apologized to Mohammad Asif for his unintentional bat swing, that bruised Asif's left thigh.

After the incident, the Rawalpindi Express was immediately banned for three matches and axed from the Pakistani squad for the T20 tournament. Afridi refused Shoaib's claims against him and Asif too revealed that Shoaib hadn't apologized to him after the incident.

This incident was one of the several incidents that made Akhtar the favourite child of controversies.

#1 Missing Kit

Australian star opener Aaron Finch was obligated to miss out on a match for Gujarat in IPL 2017 after he entered the Wankhede Stadium without his kit bag, which was left in Rajkot.

Though it wasn't clear how the kit bag couldn't arrive in Mumbai, Brendon McCullum clarified that the Australian wasn't at fault. As per reports, Finch couldn't borrow the gears and equipment from his teammates due to sponsor commitments.

The vacant spot of the disappointed Aussie was fulfilled by the classy Englishman, Jason Roy.