Cricket's Most Iconic Moments

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

February 9, 1980, saw scenes that have rarely been seen on a cricket field.

West Indies, on short tour to New Zealand, felt the umpires were biased.
In the first Test in Dunedin, Michael Holding knocked over the stumps
at the striker’s end after a caught-behind was turned down by umpire
John Hastie. “This was not cricket and I didn't have to be part of it. I
was on my way to the pavilion, quite prepared not to bowl again, when
Clive Lloyd and (Deryck) Murray persuaded me back,” Holding said.

Later in the tour, Colin Croft shoulder-barged umpire Fred Goodall while
running in to bowl. It marked the lowest point in the cricket
relations between the two teams and the only incident where an umpire
was assaulted by a player in an international game.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

England captain and Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana were embroiled in
an angry, nose-to-nose, finger-wagging exchange on December 8, 1987, in
Faisalabad.

England were miffed with Pakistani umpires in the series when things
boiled over with this incident. Rana accused Gatting of cheating by
moving a fielder while the bowler was running in.

Abuses were exchanged. Rana refused to umpire without a written
apology from Gatting. Gatting demanded the same for being called a
cheat. Day 3 was lost entirely with England in a strong position to
level the series.

Gatting grudgingly apologised (above) at the behest of the England board.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

BBC employees were on strike hence there’s no video recording of one
of the greatest knocks in one-day cricket. On June 18, 1983, in
Tunbridge Wells, India captain Kapil Dev came out to bat against
Zimbabwe with the score reading 9-4 (soon to be 17-5).

Kapil proceeded to pound 175 off 138 balls with 16 fours and six
sixes, establishing a new record score for ODIs. India’s qualification
to the semifinal was on the line.

They beat Zimbabwe here. Revitalised by Kapil’s feat, India went on to stun West Indies in the final.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

On March 22 1992, the scoreboard at the Sydney Cricket Ground tells
the story as England win a controversial rain-affected World Cup
semifinal against South Africa.

Rain stopped play when South Africa needed 22 runs off 13 balls. Two
overs were lost and according to the much-despised rain rule, the target
was reworked to 22 off 1 ball).

It’s been 19 years since the incident and South Africa are yet to win a knock-out match at the World Cup.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The scoreboard at the Pietermaritzburg Oval in South Africa during
this February 14 2003 World Cup game makes astonishing reading.

Sri Lanka paceman Chaminda Vaas had reduced Bangladesh to 5-4 in the
first over, taking all four wickets. Vaas took a hat-trick with the
first three balls of the game, setting up a 10-wicket win.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Umpires Max O’Connell and Donald Weser persuade Australian batsman
Dennis Lillee to swap his aluminium bat for a standard wooden one.

In the 1979 Ashes Test at Perth, England captain Mike Brearley noticed
the ball had gone out of shape since Lillee’s arrival at the crease.
There was no stipulation against aluminium bats so Lillee didn’t budge.

Australia captain Greg Chappell had to come out to intervene. Lillee finally threw away his bat in anger.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Helmets with visors were a rarity for long. On February 18, 1986, in
an ODI in Kingston, Jamaica, Mike Gatting was struck on the nose by a
bouncer from West Indies’ Malcolm Marshall.

The story goes that the ball came back with pieces of Gatting’s nose bone dislodged on it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Murmurs about his action were abound but this was the first time the
unorthodox spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled for throwing.
Umpire Darrell Hair laid down the law on Boxing Day at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground in 1995.

Cricket would never be the same again. Sri Lanka would emerge stronger
from the incidents of the tour to beat Australia in the World Cup final a
few months later.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Captain MS Dhoni swings the six that ended India’s 28-year wait for a
World Cup. In the final against Sri Lanka at Mumbai’s Wankhede
Stadium, an out-of-form Dhoni promoted himself up the order. He made an
unbeaten 91, sealing a memorable win.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Richie Benaud said this the most disgraceful thing he had seen on a
cricket field. On February 1, 1981, New Zealand were playing Australia
in the third of the best-of-five finals of the World Series in
Melbourne.

15 were needed off the final over, to be bowled by Trevor Chappell,
younger brother of Ian and Greg. It came down to seven off the last
ball with Brian McKechnie on strike. Captain Greg instructed Trevor to
roll the ball along the ground.

Underarm bowling was still legal, even if unethical, and Chappell’s
unsporting act was roundly criticised. After the incident, underarm
bowling was banned.