Factbox on major ball-tampering incidents in international cricket in the wake of South Africa being penalised five runs during the second test against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday for attempting to alter the state of the ball:
* Bowler John Lever was accused by India of using vaseline to get unnatural shine on the ball as England dominated the away series in 1974. The tourists said the pace attack were troubled by sweat running into their eyes and stuck gauze containing vaseline on their foreheads.
* New Zealand worked on the ball with a bottle top during the third test against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1990, said wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore several years later. It made for some prodigious late swing and helped seamer Chris Pringle take an 11-wicket haul.
* Caught rubbing loose soil from his pocket on to the ball during the Lord's test against South Africa in 1994, England captain Michael Atherton said it was merely to help dry his hands. But he was fined and British newspapers hollered unsuccessfully for him to resign.
* Pakistan paceman Waqar Younis was the first player suspended for ball-tampering at a triangular one-day international series in Sri Lanka in 2000. He was found to have gouged the side of the ball with his thumb nail.
* Sachin Tendulkar was suspended for one match in 2001 after being accused of scuffing the seam of the ball during the second test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.
* Australian umpire Darrell Hair, together with colleague Billy Doctrove of West Indies, docked Pakistan five runs for ball-tampering during a controversial test against England in 2006. Pakistan refused to take the field at The Oval and forfeited the match in protest. The row cost Hair his career as a senior international umpire.
* England bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson were accused of deliberately standing on the ball with their spikes during a test against South Africa in 2010. No charges were formally laid and Broad said he was just being lazy in trying to stop the ball.
* Stand-in Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi tried to bite the ball during the fifth ODI against Australia in Perth in 2010. The third umpire spotted him and ordered the ball to be replaced. Afridi was banned for two matches.
* Australia seamer Peter Siddle was cleared after being accused by Sri Lanka of attempting to raise the seam during a test last year.
* Former England captain Bob Willis accused his fellow countrymen of ball-tampering during this year's Champions Trophy but the players vehemently denied the suggestion.
© 2024 Rediff.com -