5 most controversial Test series that were played with poor sportsmanship

Cricket, like every other sport, had had its fair share of controversies right from its inception. While a majority of them have been relatively minor and potentially harmless, others have had far-reaching consequences that went on to challenge the integrity of the game on more occasions than one.Sledging and mind games, for instance, has always been a part and parcel of cricket, but the enormity of the offences have often been found to disrupt fair competition, giving rise to simmering tensions and mutual disrespect among teams. The copious use of the four-lettered word and the casual threats of smashing down teeth have ended up being provocative on quite a few occasions with the ultimate result of cricket being sidetracked.The allegations of bad sportsmanship have plagued the game for years with hardly any of them being resolved in good terms. Here are the top five controversies that have fuelled tension between the teams throughout the series.

#5 The Vaseline fiasco (India vs England, 1977)

A disquieting home series for India that witnessed some subservient batting and equally timid bowling against a perked up English squad led by Tony Greig ended up in an on-field controversy that graduated to off-field proportions, fuelled somewhat by the media and chiefly by the then Indian skipper Bishan Singh Bedi’s blatant wordplay.

John Lever, the Essex swing bowler, shot to fame in his debut Test in the series opener at Delhi by claiming 7/46 and 3/24 while steering his team to an innings victory. Unleashing “a rogue ball that swung extravagantly”, he went on to capture the attention of the entire cricketing world as he effortlessly exposed the weaknesses of Bedi’s men in an almost merciless fashion.

After yet another comprehensive defeat, at Calcutta, the Indians emerged at Madras in order to keep the series alive. England piled up 262 runs against a three-man spin attack and soon reduced India to 17/3. Lever completed his five-wicket haul as India folded up for 164 before umpire Judah Reuben reported the Essex youngster for ball tampering.

The greasy affair

England team physio Bernard Thomas had stuck Vaseline-impregnated gauze strips just above the eyebrows of Lever and Bob Willis, apparently to divert the sweat percolating into their eyes. According to Mike Selvey, Lever was forced to throw the strips away on the field since they happened to slip down over the eyes restricting his vision.

As Reuben picked up one of those strips and brought the matter to the attention of both the captains, Bedi unleashed a furious attack on England’s sportsmanship, claiming he had noticed grease on the ball during Lever’s 10-wicket match haul at Delhi.

An elaborate episode of justifications and counter-justifications ensued with Bedi and Lever jibing at each other through various newspapers. The laboratory tests revealed traces of Vaseline on the ball that was in accordance to Lever’s account of failing to grip the ball because of the grease, which ultimately led him to throw the strips away. As the MCC cleared the England team, the Indian skipper continued to weave conspiracy theories en route to a 3-1 defeat in the series.

#4 The Ball tampering controversy (England vs Pakistan, 2006)

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was reasonably vexed when umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove accused them of ball tampering and awarded five penalty runs to England before offering a replacement ball during the fourth day of the Oval Test in 2006. An unnecessary drama ensued with the Pakistani team refusing to take the field after tea that ended up in the first ever forfeited match in the history of the game.

The allegations made by Hair infuriated the entire visiting squad as they protested against the former’s decision to replace the ball and award penalty runs to England. The umpires, however, stood their ground and directed Pakistan to resume play as they left the field before returning after 15 minutes. A further two-minute wait yielded no response from Pakistan, and Hair subsequently dislodged the bails and declared England winners by forfeiture.

Inzamam rallied his team into the field after 25 minutes only to be informed that the match had ended in a Pakistani forfeiture as soon as the unpires had removed the bails. According to laws of cricket, the Test stood abandoned with the match being awarded to England, although the debate regarding Hair’s decision continued to dominate electronic and printing media.

#3 The Anderson-Jadeja face-off (England vs India, 2014)

The recently concluded India’s tour of England has been significant for more than just the on-field reasons. Just when a drawn first Test followed by a historic win at Lord’s seemed to turn the series in favor of the visiting nation, Alaistair Cook’s men sprang back with unwavering determination and went on to capture the five-match series 3-1, which not only witnessed Moeen Ali’s salvation but also underlined India’s propensity to get bogged down by off-field controversies.

Having ended the first day of the first Test match on a resolute note with the batsmen putting a price on their wicket after what seemed to be eternity, India looked settled by the time lunch was called on the second day with the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease. James Anderson had a long chat with Dhoni as the players walked off the field, and both the batsmen were seen smiling as they crossed the boundary line.

Tit for tat

What happened thereafter in the corridor remains a mystery of sorts with no conclusive CCTV footage available as was no unbiased account of the incident. The Indian team management surprised their counterpart by lodging a Level 3 offence complaint against Anderson for physically pushing and abusing Jadeja. The English responded aptly by slapping a similar complaint against Jadeja for aggressive behavior.

The ICC found the accounts of both teams “hopelessly biased” and cleared both the players but not before imposing a 50 percent match fine on Jadeja, which the BCCI appealed against finding it “unfair”.

Conflicting accounts

Meanwhile, the series continued as tension brewed between the two teams regarding the incident inside the corridor. While England continued to categorically deny Jadeja’s allegations, accusing him instead for threateningly charging at the England pacer, MS Dhoni stood his ground claiming that Anderson was a serial offender.

The Test series ended 3-1 in England’s favor, and India reciprocated with a similar 3-1 victory in the ODIs, thereby ending their most controversial overseas tour since the 2007/08 series Down Under.

#2 The Monkeygate saga (Australia vs India, 2007/08)

The second Test of the 2007/08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under proved to be a seriously mishandled one as umpiring controversies, in addition to poor sportsmanship by both teams, resulted in a dramatical 122-run victory for Australia with barely nine minutes left for the end of play on Day 5. The controversy, often termed by the media as Bollyline in reference to the Bodyline and Bollywood, had severe consequences that created a serious rift between the Indians and Australians.

Umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson had a forgettable Test match where they erred as many as 12 times with some of the decisions of the latter being revolting and almost farcical. The dismissal of Sourav Ganguly (inconclusively caught by Michael Clarke at slips) who had been holding fort for the Indians in their second innings particularly raised eyebrows as Bucknor decided on asking the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting about the validity of the catch instead of referring to the third umpire.

Harbhajan’s racial abuse

The controversy mounted and assumed racial proportions as Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds ‘monkey’. On the evening of the fifth day, Mike Procter, after listening to the testimonies of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds as well as Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan, declared a three-match ban for the offie.

BCCI subsequently appealed and on January 7, 2008, the Indian team announced their desire to suspend the tour pending the outcome of the appeal against Harbhajan’s ban. Chief referee Ranjan Madugalle was appointed by the ICC to mediate Anil Kumble and Ponting and ease the tension between the two teams. Finally, the BCCI President Sharad Pawar clarified on January 11 that the tour would not be cancelled regardless of the outcome of the appeal.

On January 28, the ICC acquitted Harbhajan owing to scarcity of sufficient evidence but fined 50 per cent of his match fee on a lesser charge of using abusive language. India won the next Test at Perth and drew the final one at Adelaide, thereby handing the Aussies a 2-1 victory in which the result of the Sydney Test turned out to be pivotal.

#1 The Bodyline series (Australia vs England, 1932/33)

As Australian batsman Bert Oldfield collapsed on the field, his skull fractured by a venomous Harold Larwood delivery, as the birth of ‘Bodyline’ as one of the most despicable and unsportsmanlike terms ever was witnessed by a 50,000 odd crowd at the Adelaide Oval.

More than 80 years after its occurrence, the Bodyline tour of 1932/33 remains the only instance in the history of the gentleman’s game when brutality transcended cricketing ethics and culminated into personal rage and belligerence. No series ever has ended up in having consequences as far-reaching as the Bodyline tour.

The context of the plan

The background of England’s tour of Australia was pretty promising by purely cricketing standards. While the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) still dominated the game from its headquarters at London, Australia was witnessing the emergence of the greatest cricketer of that era in Don Bradman: the same guy who had amassed a staggering average of 139.14 during Australia’s triumphant tour of England in 1930.

Seeking revenge, Douglas Jardine was appointed skipper by the MCC, and an elaborate plan was hatched to unsettle the Australians with fierce pace and incredible accuracy. The right bowler was selected in the form of Harold Larwood who harnessed both these qualities, and, with that, the English embarked on their tour Down Under.

The tactic was soon evident as high-bouncing screamers on the line of the leg stump followed the batsmen and ended up in frequent bruises. The wickets kept piling as the Australian batsmen endured hours of punishment against Larwood. Even Bradman seemed unsettled in the face of such physical intimidation.

Not adhering to the spirit of the game

The deliberate positioning of the fielders to catch the ball off the batsmen protecting themselves from the fast, short-pitched stuff aimed at the ribs and throat perfectly abided by the laws of cricket but fell short of acknowledging the code of sportsman’s spirit that is so central to the game. No wonder the Australians went hysterical and accused the MCC, the guardians of the game, for poor sportsmanship.

Although the newspapers sided with their own players, the MCC ultimately realized the gravity of the impact that Jardine’s seemingly genius plot had brought about. Larwood turned into a national villain overnight as he rightly refused to apologize for doing what his captain told him to do. The Bodyline continued to affect the ICC rules and regulations years later as the usage of helmets and restriction of bouncers came into play.