Cricket Controversies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Douglas Jardine

Douglas Jardine was the captain of the English cricket team who devised the bodyline strategy. The theory was to bowl bouncers on the leg stump with a cordon of fielders on the leg side. As a result of this, the batsman had to either try to play the ball and maybe get caught, or try to evade and then maybe get hit. This was a highly successful strategy and England won the series 4-1. There were strong reactions from the Australian team and public.

The laws of the game were amended in 1935, giving umpires the power to intervene if bowlers tried to deliberately injure batsmen. Subsequent amendments to the laws ensured that no more than two fielders could be placed on the leg side behind the batsman and also the number of bouncers a bowler could bowl was limited.

Harold Larwood was one of the bowlers who implemented Jardine's strategy. Woodfull was the Australian captain for that series and the great Bradman was the intended target of Bodyline.

Answer: South Africa refused entry into their country to an English coloured cricketer

The South African policy of apartheid resulted in most countries cutting off diplomatic ties. But South Africa continued to play international cricket till 1968. When England was scheduled to tour South Africa, the English team selected a coloured player named Basil D'Oliveira.

The South African government refused to allow Basil to enter, resulting in the tour being called off. Subsequently South Africa was isolated in the cricketing world and none of the cricketing teams toured South Africa. This ban was in place for 22 years. Following Nelson Mandela's release, South Africa was readmitted to cricket in 1991 with a tour to India.

Answer: Because he did not get the television rights for Australian cricket matches

In 1976, when Kerry Packer of the Nine Network failed to get the television rights for the Australian cricket season, he was infuriated and decided to setup his own tournament. With the help of English skipper Tony Greig, he setup the WSC which was an instant success.

The WSC introduced day/night matches, batsmen wearing helmets, coloured clothing and the white ball. The end result of WSC was that the Australian Cricket board capitulated to Packer and awarded him the exclusive rights for cricket matches in Australia.

Answer: Trevor Chappell

Brian McKechnie was the New Zealand batsman at the crease when six runs were required by New Zealand to tie the match. Greg Chappell asked his brother Trevor to bowl underarm and roll the delivery along the ground, thereby preventing the batsman from hitting a six.

This incident invited widespread condemnation. This was a legal delivery because the laws of cricket at that time allowed underarm bowling, though it was considered unfair. Consequently, the laws of the game were revised and underarm bowling was banned.

Answer: Mike Gatting

Mike Gatting was the captain of the English cricket team, which was stunned by the umpiring decisions of Shakoor Rana. Things came to a head in the Faisalabad test, when Rana and Gatting had a shouting match with fingers pointed at each other. Shakoor Rana refused to officiate in the match and Gatting was forced to apologise.

As a result of this controversy, the ICC (International Cricket Council) decided to introduce neutral umpires to prevent umpiring bias. All test matches played subsequently have neutral umpires (from another cricket playing country) and one day matches have one neutral umpire and one local umpire.

Answer: Australia

The match-fixing scandal shook the world of cricket, when it was revealed that South African captain Hansie Cronje took money from bookies to fix matches. The subsequent investigations resulted in the captains of India, Pakistan and South Africa namely Mohammed Azharuddin, Salim Malik and Hansie Cronje, being banned for life.

The match fixing scam led to the ICC setting up an anti-corruption cell to monitor matches to ensure that there is no fixing.

Answer: Darrell Hair

It was umpire Darrell Hair of Australia, who no-balled Murali seven times for throwing in the 1995 test match at the MCG. This led to a debate of whether Murali was a 'chucker'. Subsequent biomechanical tests revealed that his action looked suspect because of a congenital defect in his arm. Murali was subsequently cleared by the ICC, even through the throwing controversy lingered for a very long time. Reacting to Darrell Hair's decision, the legendary Don Bradman was quoted as saying that this was the "worst example of umpiring he witnessed and against everything that the game stood for".

In a subsequent study by the ICC, it was revealed that almost 99% of bowlers straightened their arm while bowling (the only exception was part-timer Ramnaresh Sarwan). The ICC decided to allow a latitude of 15 degree bend in the arm to bowlers during their bowling action.

Answer: McGrath - Sarwan

In the Antigua test in 2003, Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan were involved in a sledging incident, which led to heated arguments between both players. This controversial spat made international cricketers call for stricter rules. Subsequently, the ICC made a code of conduct for players and gave more powers to match referees to penalize players who violated this code.

Answer: Darrell Hair & Billy Doctrove

Umpires Darrell Hair (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies) were officiating in the fourth test between England and Pakistan held in August 2006 at the Oval. Suspecting a case of ball tampering, umpire Hair awarded five penalty runs to England. This infuriated the Pakistani players who under their captain Inzamam Ul-Haq refused to come back to the field after tea. Umpire Darrell Hair then awarded the match to England by forfeit.

This led to a big controversy and the ICC under pressure from Pakistan (supported by India) sacked Hair, but did not take any action against umpire Doctrove.

This led to Hair filing a case against the ICC. The issue was resolved with Hair being reinstated in March 2008.

Answer: He was coach of the Pakistan team

The 2007 World cup was held for the first time in the West Indies. India and Pakistan were knocked out in the first round because of losses to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively. Following the disastrous match between Pakistan and Ireland, the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died in his hotel room in "suspicious circumstances".

His death shocked the cricketing world, with suspicion directed on various parties including some Pakistan team members. Later the police (after investigations by Scotland Yard), concluded that it was a natural death.