The ultimate archive of cricket's most controversial decisions, fiercest player clashes, biggest scandals, and funniest moments.
We present the evidence — you be the judge.
Larwood's intimidatory leg-theory bowling nearly shattered Australia–England diplomatic relations.
The biggest, most impactful controversies that changed cricket forever
Bad decisions, DRS failures, and moments where umpires got it spectacularly wrong
Sledging wars, physical confrontations, and the fiercest rivalries on the pitch
Scandals that shook cricket — fixing, tampering, bans, and criminal convictions
Hilarious moments, legendary sledges, and comedy gold from the cricket field
Tied Tests, Super Overs, legendary innings, and iconic moments that defined cricket history
Bangladesh vs ICC
7 February 2026
Bangladesh refused to play T20 World Cup 2026 in India and were replaced by Scotland after the ICC rejected their security-concern relocation demand.
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
23 May 2026
Virat Kohli walked past an outstretched hand from Travis Head without acknowledgement at the post-match handshake ceremony following Sunrisers Hyderabad's 55-run defeat of Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on 23 May 2026. The snub came after a heated on-field exchange in RCB's chase of a massive 256-run target, during which Kohli, set up by Venkatesh Iyer's blazing start, taunted Head by miming the Impact Player signal and appearing to invite him to come and bowl. Kohli was dismissed for 15 off 11 balls — to a bowler other than Head — and Head's parting line, audible to multiple broadcasters, was: "Mate, you got out before I even came on to bowl." After the match, Kohli shook hands with SRH captain Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma but visibly bypassed Head, who was standing in the handshake line with his arm extended. Head's subsequent Instagram story — "Keep the body guessing" — went viral.
Middlesex vs Lancashire
1865-07-26
Vyell Edward Walker of Middlesex took all ten wickets in a Lancashire innings at Lord's on 26 July 1865 — one of the earliest documented instances of a bowler taking all ten in a first-class match. Walker, a medium-pace round-arm bowler who also captained Middlesex, achieved the feat without assistance from any other bowler, delivering one of the most complete individual bowling performances of the Victorian era.
Kent and MCC elevens
1842-08-01
The first Canterbury Cricket Week was staged at the St Lawrence Ground in August 1842, combining top-class county cricket with theatrical performances by the Old Stagers amateur dramatic society. The event immediately established itself as the social and sporting centrepiece of the Kent cricket year and has been held annually ever since, making it the oldest cricket festival in existence.
South Africa vs Various
7 April 2000
Hansie Cronje, South Africa's captain, was exposed as a match-fixer after Delhi Police intercepted phone calls to Indian bookmaker Sanjay Chawla in April 2000. He received a life ban; South African cricket was devastated.
South Africa vs Australia
2006-03-12
South Africa chased 434 off 50 overs to beat Australia 438-9 vs 434-4 at Johannesburg on 12 March 2006 — the highest successful ODI run chase ever. Australia thought a 434 total was unassailable; South Africa proved otherwise with 4 balls to spare.
England vs Australia
1993-06-04
Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket — 4 June 1993, Old Trafford — turned from outside leg stump and clipped the top of Gatting's off stump. The delivery became universally known as the Ball of the Century. Gatting's expression said everything.
Australia vs England
2 December 1932
The 1932-33 Bodyline series: England captain Douglas Jardine directed Harold Larwood to bowl short-pitched leg-theory at batsmen's bodies to stop Don Bradman. Nearly caused a diplomatic rupture between England and Australia; England won 4-1.
England vs Australia
1961-08-01
Chasing 256 to level the series, England were 150 for 1 and coasting — Dexter had made 76, May was settled — when Richie Benaud switched to bowling round the wicket into the footmarks outside off stump. In 25 balls he took 5 for 12, England collapsed to 201 all out, and Australia retained the Ashes by 54 runs. It was one of the most celebrated tactical switches in cricket history.
England vs West Indies
1963-06-25
England needed 15 runs from the last eight-ball over to beat West Indies, with two wickets standing, Colin Cowdrey at the crease with a broken arm in plaster. Wes Hall bowled. Six runs came, two wickets fell. The match ended in a draw with England 9 wickets down. Cowdrey never had to face the last ball. It was the most famous finish at Lord's in the post-war era.
England vs Australia
1964-08-15
On 15 August 1964, at The Oval, Fred Trueman caught Neil Hawke at slip off his own bowling to become the first man in cricket history to take 300 Test wickets. The milestone had been expected for several matches; the moment itself was characteristically Trueman — a slip catch taken with ease off a delivery bowled in anger. His celebrated remark, that 'whoever gets the next lot'll be bloody tired', has echoed in cricket ever since.
England vs West Indies
1966-07-01
Garry Sobers's 1966 England tour was the greatest all-round series by any player in Test history up to that date. He scored 722 runs at 103.14 — including a double century at Headingley — and took 20 wickets with his three different bowling styles. West Indies won 3-1 and Sobers was on another level. One England selector described it as watching a man play a different sport from everyone else.
England vs Australia
1968-08-22
A thunderstorm drenched The Oval on the final afternoon of the last Ashes Test of 1968, leaving England needing 352 to win — or, in practice, to survive to a draw on an unplayable wet surface. Groundstaff worked desperately to mop up the outfield, and England supporters helped dry the covers. When play resumed with 75 minutes left, Derek Underwood bowled Australia out for 125 to win the match by 226 runs and level the series 1-1.
Melbourne Cricket Club
1838-11-15
The Melbourne Cricket Club — destined to become one of the most powerful institutions in Australian and world cricket — was founded at a meeting on 15 November 1838, only three years after the city itself had been established. The MCC would in time own and operate the Melbourne Cricket Ground, host the first Test match (1877), and shape every major decision in Australian cricket for the next 150 years.
Nottingham; Trent Bridge
1838-05-30
William Clarke, the Nottingham slow-bowling all-rounder, opened the Trent Bridge cricket ground in late May 1838 on land adjoining the Trent Bridge Inn — the public house he had acquired through marriage in 1837. The ground would become the home of Nottinghamshire cricket and, in time, one of the senior Test venues in England.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.
South Africa v England
1939-03-03
Played from 3 to 14 March 1939, the Durban 'Timeless Test' between South Africa and England ran for ten days and an aggregate of 43 hours and 16 minutes before being abandoned as a draw because the England team had to catch the boat home. With 1981 runs scored across four innings, it remains the longest Test ever played and effectively ended the timeless-Test format.
England v West Indies
1933-07-22
Six months after Bodyline, Learie Constantine and Manny Martindale opened up with sustained leg-theory bouncers at Douglas Jardine in the Old Trafford Test. Jardine, captaining England, stood up and made 127 — his only Test century — proving, at considerable physical cost, that he could face the tactic he had unleashed on Australia.
England v Australia
1938-06-26
Captaining England in his first Ashes home Test in charge, Wally Hammond made 240 at Lord's in June 1938 — at the time the highest score by an England captain against Australia and an innings widely rated alongside his 336* at Auckland and his 251 at Sydney as the finest of his career.
The 14-year-old from Samastipur, Bihar who smashed 101* off 38 balls in IPL 2025 — the youngest centurion in IPL history. He had already become India's youngest T20 international at 13, but his rapid rise sparked fierce debate: is it right to expose a schoolboy to the full glare of professional cricket's most commercial tournament?
