5 Cricket personalities who have had trouble with the law

Cricket is known as the gentleman's game but the players playing it may not maintain a gentlemanly behaviour at all points of time. The calm and composed cricketer on the field may just be a projection to hide a sinister reality. While a sport like Football may have seen its fair share of controversial incidents involving former or present players, cricket has maintained its dignity on most occasions.But there has been the odd sheep once in a while. They have been occasions when international cricketers and the match officials have let the game down. We as loyal fans of the game have been deeply hurt at such moments. Every time such an incident occurs, it dents the great image of the sport.As is the case, ours is a world which is far from perfect. One can only hope that the cricketers learn from these incidents and ensure that these activities don't get replicated in the future. After all, as they say, those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.We bring you such incidents from the lives of cricketers which have let them and the beautiful game down.

#1 Navjot Singh Sidhu

Cricketer, commentator, politician, and reality show TV Judge, are all the arrows in the Sikh’s quiver. The ex-cricketer furnishes his comments and idioms at breathtaking pace and leaves even the most fluent speakers gasping for a chance to put forward their words. SIXER SIDHU from the humble town of Amritsar has had a successful international Cricket career as he demolished some of the best spinners during his time.

But in the year 1988, Sidhu was accused of assaulting Gurnam Singh and causing his death. He was arrested and spent several days lodged in a Patiala jail. Sidhu denied all charges against him. He claimed in court that he was innocent and "falsely involved in this case by the complainant party".

In December 2006, Sidhu was found guilty and sentenced to a three-year prison term for culpable homicide following a road rage incident. Following the sentencing, Sidhu resigned as a Member of Parliament and in January 2007 appealed to the Supreme Court.

#2 Chris Lewis

Chris Lewis was a famous name in the English cricket fraternity in the 1990s. Although a very fine fast bowler, an aggressive lower-order batsman and athletic in the field, the former Surrey star though did not manage to live up to his promise in English colours.

On 8 December 2008, Lewis was arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of smuggling 3.37 kilograms of liquid cocaine, with a street value of about £140,000, into the United Kingdom on a flight from Saint Lucia. After a trial at Croydon Crown Court, on 20 May 2009 Lewis and basketball player Chad Kirnon were found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He is serving his sentence in HMP High Down.

#3 Steve Randell

In the gentleman’s game, umpires are undoubtedly the most well behaved. While the players may lose their calm for a while and blurt out abuses to opposition, it is the umpires who play the good cop. They intervene when things get heated in the middle, bring the chaos down and restore dignity in the game. In a way, umpires are the unsung heroes of the game, putting in surplus amount of attention into each and every delivery every day. They are under immense pressure under situations where a key decision could make or break the game.

In general, the umpiring standards have seen a steady rise in cricket with technology coming to aid the on-field umpires. But the glory of umpires has been tarnished by a few incidents in the past. None perhaps more than the case of Steve Randell, the first Tasmanian to stand in a Test when he officiated in the Australia-West Indies Test at the MCG in 1984-85.

The Tasmanian officiated in 33 Tests and had a long career ahead of him before he was convicted in the Tasmanian Supreme Court in August 1999 on 15 separate counts of assault against nine school girls between 1981 and 1982. He was sentenced to four years in jail with a minimum of two years and was released on parole in May 2002.

#4 Leslie Hylton

Leslie Hylton was a fast bowler from Jamaica who appeared in six Test matches from 1935 to 1939 for the men from the Caribbean. Not particularly cherished as a cricketer, Leslie is remembered for his death for being the only Test cricketer to have ever been executed. In 1955, he was hanged for the murder of his wife, Lurlene. In his defence, the Jamaican claimed that he was trying to shoot himself but had missed the shot.

#5 Geoffrey Boycott

The Yorkshireman with the impregnable defence is perhaps not so noble afterall. Known for his hard hitting commentary, the prolific English opener did not have a pleasant 1998.

1996 saw Boycott assaulting Margaret Moore, a former lover. According to Boycott, he was not to be blamed as his former lover had fallen over and sustained injuries. He skipped the first trial but in the second trial which began on 20 October 1998, Boycott was handed out a three-month suspension sentence by the French Magistrates court. Due to this issue, Boycott lost his job at BSkyB and BBC Radio. His columnist position with The Sun too came to a end.