Sri Lanka vs England
23 January 1999
Umpire Ross Emerson called Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga nearly led his team off the field in protest.
Sri Lanka vs Various
1 January 1996
Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action was questioned repeatedly over a decade, leading to fundamental changes in cricket's throwing laws and biomechanical testing protocols.
Australia vs Sri Lanka
26 December 1995
Umpire Darrell Hair called Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing seven times during the Boxing Day Test, igniting one of cricket's longest-running controversies.
Australia vs Sri Lanka
26 December 1995
Australian umpire Darrell Hair no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan seven times for throwing during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, igniting one of cricket's longest-running controversies.
West Indies vs Various
1966-07-01
Charlie Griffith of Barbados was the fastest bowler in the world in the mid-1960s, but his career was permanently shadowed by accusations that his bouncer and yorker were thrown rather than bowled. Several senior umpires, players and administrators — including Don Bradman — stated publicly that Griffith threw; the West Indies Cricket Board and ICC declined to take formal action. His career never fully recovered from the controversy.
Australia vs South Africa
1963-12-06
On 6 December 1963 at the Gabba, in his first over of the first Test against South Africa, Australian left-arm fast bowler Ian Meckiff was no-balled four times by umpire Col Egar — for throwing. Captain Richie Benaud removed him after the over and never bowled him again. Meckiff retired from all cricket at the end of the match. He was 28.
England vs South Africa
1960-06-25
On 25 June 1960, the 21-year-old South African Geoff Griffin took the first Test hat-trick ever recorded at Lord's — and was no-balled eleven times for throwing in the same match. After the Test ended early on the fourth day, the umpires no-balled him repeatedly in the exhibition match staged to fill the unused time, forcing him to complete the over underarm. He never played another Test.
Australia v England
1898-01-01
On 1 January 1898 at the MCG, umpire Jim Phillips called Australia's Ernie Jones for throwing — the first bowler ever no-balled for a suspect action in a Test match. Jones, the South Australian fast bowler famous for sending a ball through W.G. Grace's beard the previous summer, had been called once before the Test by Phillips in a tour match. The Melbourne call set off a 'chucking question' that would consume English county cricket through 1900-01 and end Arthur Mold's career.
Various county and representative sides
1864-06-01
The legalisation of overarm bowling in 1864 created an immediate grey zone: how high could the arm go, and at what point did a fast delivery become an illegal throw? Through the 1860s English cricket struggled with this question as a succession of fast bowlers developed actions that umpires suspected but rarely no-balled, creating a climate of suspicion that would recur in every generation of cricket thereafter.