Cricket is widely known as the gentleman’s game around the world. There’s always been a “brotherly” bond stay between players from different countries. Sadly, there’s been ugly incidents also happen as players, coaches, staffs getting involved in distasteful incidents which are very shameful. From match-fixing to ugly fights, from ball-tampering to threatening, lots of things happened in cricket so far. These incidents put this gentleman’s game in shame.

Here, we want to discuss the 5 most controversial moments of cricket.

5 Most Controversial Moments of Cricket

Some of these incidents are still fresh on mind on cricket lovers.

1. Hansie Cronje Match-Fixing(2000)

A very controversial moment for cricket. South African captain Hansie Cronje conspired with a bookmaker to fix a result in a Test. The game was against England in 2000 at Centurion. Cronje’s act totally shook the cricket world. He was charged for the incident and got a lifetime ban from the sport. Later, he died in 2002 for an aviation incident. Many people still believe he was murdered by bookmakers.

Hansie Cronje's sentence hearing
Hansie Cronje’s sentence hearing

2. Bodyline(1932-33)

This is one of the biggest controversies in cricket till date. The bodyline series between England vs Australia in 1932-33 is infamous due to the short-pitched bowling from the visitors. English bowlers roughed up their opposition in order to break the dominance of Sir Don Bradman, the greatest ever batsman in cricket. They succeeded, but it creates a huge stir around the cricket world as they won the series 4-1.

Bodyline Test
Bodyline Test

3. Darrell Hair No-Balls Muttiah Muralitharan (1995)

In the Boxing Day Test of 1995, former Australian Test match umpire Darrell Hair called seven no-balls to Muttiah Muralidharan in the span of three overs. Under his vision, Muralidharan was throwing the ball. It totally irritated Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga that he took his players out of the field for a time being.

Darrell Hair
Darrell Hair

4. Pakistan Spot-Fixing (2010)

In 2010, the whole cricket world got another shake by Pakistani players match-fixing scandal. Various Pakistani legends accused Pakistani players of match-fixing. They didn’t have enough proof. But, a trickery from English newspaper “News of the World” showed the true colors. Three Pakistani cricketers – Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir, and Salman Butt—were charged for spot-fixing. All of them got banned for different amounts of time. This incident is one of the biggest scandal of cricket in the new decade.

Guilties of Pak scandal
Guilties of Pak scandal

5. Bob Woolmer’s Death (2007)

Pakistan was knocked out from 2007 World Cup in West Windies. Pakistan head coach Bob Woolmer found dead in Jamaica hotel. The Police in that country launched an investigation about this murder. One report suggested he had died of suffocation through strangulation. However, the report disapproved in the end. Investigators said he died due to a heart attack. Many people still don’t believe this verdict. There’s still doubt about surrounding the death of “Laptop Coach“. Lots of cricket fans think it was a cold-blooded murder from dangerous bookmakers.

Bob Woolmer death still creates doubts and people think it was fresh murder
Bob Woolmer death still creates doubts and people think it was fresh murder

These incidents portrayed a gentleman’s game can be turned into an ugly scenario by its players and staffs. Such kinds of incidents put up a very bad image of cricket to children and young generations. ICC must take care of these things so there will be no more ugly scenario in the future.