- Published
On Friday, Australia will play their first Test in South Africa since the sandpapergate scandal rocked the cricketing world eight years ago.
asserted
scandal → publish → world
To mark one of the biggest controversies the game has ever seen, Test Match Special asked you which is Test cricket's biggest scandal.
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which → mark → you
Ten of the most notorious scandals in Test cricket were picked out by a TMS panel and readers of the BBC Sport website then ranked them.
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readers → pick → them
The results have been revealed on the TMS podcast by BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew, former England fast bowler Steven Finn and TMS scorer Andy Zaltzman.
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results → reveal → Agnew
The full results are below and you can listen to the podcast here.
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you → listen → podcast
The forfeited Test
Pakistan had already lost the series in England in 2006, yet were cruising to victory in the final Test at The Oval.
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Pakistan → forfeit → Oval
However, Australian umpire Darrel Hair asked for the ball to be changed midway through the afternoon session on the fourth day.
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ball → ask → day
Ball-tampering was suggested and Pakistan refused to play after tea.
uncertain
Pakistan → suggest → tea
The match was abandoned and years later awarded to England, after some back and forth.
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match → abandon → back
Agnew: "Pakistan weren't accused of ball-tampering, they were found guilty of ball-tampering, on the field, without any opportunity to defend themselves.
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they → accuse → themselves
The rule at the time was if the umpire on the field suspected ball-tampering, the ball was changed and penalty runs were awarded.
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runs → suspect → tampering
It didn't feel fair."
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It → feel → ?
Zaltzman: "It ended up with England awarded the Test so therefore they won the series 3-0.
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they → end → series
It means that whenever we look at the biggest first-innings deficit overturned to win a Test, this game comes out on top - 331 runs.
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game → mean → top
It irritates me slightly."
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It → irritate → me
Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana
England's Test match against Pakistan in 1987 was stopped mid-game for more than 24 hours when the tourists' skipper Mike Gatting became embroiled in a row with home umpire Shakoor Rana.
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skipper → stop → Rana
The knock-on was England didn't tour Pakistan for many years.
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England → tour → years
England felt they were being stitched up by Pakistani umpires.
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they → feel → umpires
Zaltzman: "This was before neutral umpires and there was a sense umpiring wasn't quite as fair as it could have been, which all exploded in that moment."
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which → be → moment
Finn: "It blows my mind that there weren't neutral umpires.
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It → blow → mind
My first summer of Test cricket had DRS and neutral umpires."
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summer → have → DRS
8. George Davis is innocent
The third Test in the 1975 Ashes was abandoned when the pitch was vandalised overnight by supporters of George Davis, who had been jailed for armed robbery the previous year.
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who → abandon → robbery
"George Davis is innocent" was written on the wall around Headingley.
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Davis → write → Headingley
Finn: "I can't fathom turning up to a Test match and the pitch - the most sacred, untouchable of places - it's staggering that people managed to do that."
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people → fathom → that
Zaltzman: "It highlights how vulnerable cricket is to this sort of thing.
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cricket → highlight → thing
A small bit of the field is damaged and the whole game has to be abandoned."
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game → damage → field
These days, the grounds are locked down.
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grounds → lock → ?
It was set up for an England win, but could have been a really good game of cricket.
uncertain
It → set → cricket
When Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, failed to boost the ratings of his Channel Nine TV network with live cricket, he created his own product: World Series Cricket.
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he → fail → product
The plan was simple - Packer recruited the best players in the world to stage his own matches.
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Packer → recruit → matches
Agnew: "Virtually everything you see about modern cricket can be traced back to World Series.
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you → see → Series
I was 18 years old, playing club cricket in Melbourne and captivated by the coverage."
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I → play → coverage
Finn: "There's a similar revolution going on at the moment with T20 leagues allowing players to drift away from Test cricket.
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players → be → cricket
The temptation to be involved in something new and exciting would have been very interesting."
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temptation → involve → something
Zaltzman: "It was extremely high-calibre cricket, but not even counted in first-class statistics, let alone Test stats.
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It → count → statistics
I don't really see it as a scandal at all, it was more cricket growing up.
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it → see → scandal
This really modernised the sport."
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This → modernise → sport
6. Dirt in the pocket
In the 1994 Lord's Test against South Africa, Michael Atherton was caught by TV cameras rubbing dirt on the ball.
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Atherton → catch → ball
Atherton's explanation was that he was trying to maintain the condition of the ball, rather than alter it.
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he → try → it
Trouble was, he told the match referee he was using the dirt to keep his hands dry.
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he → tell → hands
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
