Cricket's 10 biggest cheating scandals of all time
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Amateur "Clicky Ponting" scandal reignites debate over cricket's long cheating history.
- Ten infamous incidents span Bodyline, ball tampering, pitch damage, and Sandpapergate.
- From Test captains to village cricketers, fair play has repeatedly been tested.
Cricket's ten biggest cheating scandals of all time
A finger click in a Division Two match in North Yorkshire has done something unusual: it has placed amateur cricket in the same conversation as the sport's most notorious professional scandals.
Footage from a fixture between Saltburn CC and Norton CC showed a slip fielder appearing to click his fingers to fake the sound of an edge, convincing the umpire to raise his finger for a wicket that replays suggested never actually happened.
The fielder, Saltburn opener Brian Devine, has since been nicknamed "Clicky Ponting" online, with the clip crossing millions of views within days.
It's a timely reminder that cricket's uneasy relationship with fair play stretches back nearly a century at the very top of the sport. Here are ten of the most infamous episodes.
Bodyline Tactics (1932–33 Ashes)
Australia went into the 1932-33 Ashes with Don Bradman as its biggest weapon, backed by fine batters like Stan McCabe and captain Bill Woodfull. To blunt that threat, England captain Douglas Jardine devised the now-infamous Bodyline strategy, instructing his pace attack, led by Harold Larwood, to repeatedly bowl short at the bodies and heads of Australian batsmen while stacking a leg-side field to catch the resulting fends.
The tactic worked, with England winning the series 4-1, but it left a trail of physical damage. Woodfull was struck in the chest, and keeper Bert Oldfield suffered a fractured skull after being hit on the temple. McCabe managed to counter the short stuff skilfully with pull and hook shots.
The approach was widely condemned as brutal and unsportsmanlike, exposing England's ruthless streak. It even split the England camp itself, with bowler Gubby Allen refusing to bowl the line and clashing with Jardine over it, while vice-captain Bob Wyatt, along with Freddie Brown, Wally Hammond and the Nawab of Pataudi, also voiced their disapproval.
The row escalated into a diplomatic dispute between the Australian and British governments, eventually forcing the MCC to bring in new rules limiting leg-side fielders and short-pitched bowling.
John Lever and the Vaseline Scandal (1976)
During England's tour of India in 1976-77, fast bowler John Lever produced a stunning display in Delhi, claiming seven wickets in the first innings and three more in the second. However, controversy erupted in Chennai in the third Test, where he again generated extraordinary swing and picked up seven wickets in the first innings.
This time, Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi spotted unusual greasy marks on the ball and alerted match officials. An investigation revealed Lever had tucked strips of Vaseline-soaked gauze under his eyebrows to keep sweat out of his eyes, and the substance had transferred onto the ball each time he touched it.
England maintained the gauze was purely practical given the heat, but India accused him of deliberate tampering. The MCC eventually cleared Lever of any intent to cheat, though the episode triggered a long debate over foreign substances near the ball.
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Michael Atherton and the Pocket Dirt (1994)
Television cameras during a 1994 Test against South Africa at Lord's caught England captain Michael Atherton reaching into his trouser pocket and rubbing a dry substance onto the ball.
When he was called before match referee Peter Burge, Atherton, by his own admission, panicked and claimed the dirt was there to dry his sweaty hands. That explanation didn't match the version he had earlier given England management figures Keith Fletcher and Ray Illingworth, and Burge was reportedly furious once he learned the discrepancy.
Burge later said that had he known Atherton's true intentions, he would have suspended him for two matches and likely ended his captaincy prematurely.
On the field, South Africa completed a crushing 356-run win with a day to spare. Atherton avoided a ban, but the ECB fined him £2,000 for misleading officials, a hit that damaged his reputation just as his captaincy was getting underway.
Waqar Younis ball-tampering suspension (2000)
In July 2000, Pakistan paceman Waqar Younis became the first player at Test or international level to be suspended and fined for ball tampering under the ICC's Code of Conduct, during a match against South Africa.
Television cameras had caught Waqar scuffing the seam and gouging the ball's surface with his fingernails to generate sharp reverse swing.
He wasn't the only Pakistani punished that day: all-rounder Azhar Mahmood was also fined, while captain Moin Khan received a severe reprimand for bringing the game into disrepute given his responsibility as leader.
Waqar was banned for one match, missing a crucial fixture against Sri Lanka, and lost 50 per cent of his match fee. Mahmood was fined 30 per cent of his fee and warned.
Rahul Dravid ball-tampering fine (2004)
During a one-day international against Zimbabwe in Brisbane in January 2004, Indian vice-captain and stand-in wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid was filmed rubbing a half-eaten cough lozenge onto the shiny side of the ball as he walked back to his fielding position.
Match referee Clive Lloyd ruled that Dravid had applied an illegal foreign substance in breach of the laws governing the ball's condition, and fined him 50 per cent of his match fee.
Shahid Afridi pitch tampering (2005)
During the second Test between Pakistan and England in Faisalabad in November 2005, play was briefly halted after a gas canister exploded near the crowd.
While fielders gathered near the boundary amid the confusion, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi walked onto the pitch and deliberately ground his spiked boots into the surface near the good-length area.
He twisted his feet to create rough patches that would help his spinners. Broadcast cameras caught the act clearly, and match referee Ranjan Madugalle handed him a one-Test and two-ODI ban after Afridi pleaded guilty to damaging the pitch.
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Ricky Ponting and the controversial SCG Test (2008)
The second Test of the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Sydney Cricket Ground became one of the most bitterly contested matches of the modern era.
Australia won in the closing overs, but the game was overshadowed by poor umpiring and aggressive appealing. Before the series, Ricky Ponting and India's Anil Kumble had agreed that fielders' word would be trusted on catches taken close to the ground.
Ponting, however, repeatedly claimed catches, including a low take off Sourav Ganguly, that television replays suggested had touched the turf first. It was combined with a string of umpiring decisions that favoured Australia, and it was in this match that the explosive Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds "Monkeygate" confrontation took place.
(Getty)Shahid Afridi Ball Tampering (2010)
Five years after his pitch-scuffing episode, Afridi was back in trouble, this time banned for two Twenty20 internationals after being found guilty of tampering with the ball during a two-wicket loss to Australia in an ODI at the WACA.
He was leading Pakistan's T20 side in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf. However, Afridi was charged under the ICC's code for altering the ball's condition when television cameras caught him appearing to bite the ball on more than one occasion.
The TV umpire alerted the on-field officials, who then changed the ball after speaking with him. Afridi was called before match referee Ranjan Madugalle immediately after the game, where he pleaded guilty, apologised and expressed regret for his actions.
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Faf du Plessis ball tampering (2013 and 2016)
South African batsman Faf du Plessis holds the unusual distinction of being found guilty of ball tampering by the ICC on two separate occasions. In October 2013, during a Test in Dubai against Pakistan, he was filmed rubbing the ball against the metal zipper of his trouser pocket in an attempt to rough up one side.
South Africa were docked five runs, and du Plessis was fined 50 per cent of his match fee.
Three years later, during a Test against Australia in Hobart in November 2016, he was caught on camera using saliva mixed with mint residue to shine the ball in an episode that became known as "Mintgate".
Television footage showed him repeatedly touching a sweet in his mouth before working his fingers over the ball. Match referee Andy Pycroft convicted him a second time, fining him his entire match fee, though he again avoided a playing ban.
Getty ImagesSandpapergate in Cape Town (2018)
Few images in cricket history are as jarring as sandpaper being taken to a cricket ball, yet that's exactly what unfolded when Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing the ball with a piece of sandpaper before hastily hiding it in his trousers.
In Cape Town in March 2018, with Australia under pressure in the Test, television cameras spotted Bancroft attempting to rough up the ball to help the bowlers generate reverse swing. Captain Steve Smith later admitted the plan had been hatched during the lunch break by the team's leadership group.
The scandal spread far beyond the boundary ropes, with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull calling the team's conduct a "shocking disappointment." Cricket Australia handed year-long bans to both Smith and David Warner, while Bancroft, who was following instructions, received a nine-month suspension for his part.
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