180 incidents documented
BCCI / ICC / England Cricket / Cricket Australia
2024
The 2024 cricket calendar brought the IPL-versus-Test-cricket scheduling conflict to its most acute point yet, with multiple Test series rescheduled, players choosing IPL contracts over international availability, and administrators openly questioning whether Test cricket could survive as a commercially viable format.
England vs Australia
28 June - 2 July 2023
Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow after he wandered out of his crease assuming the ball was dead. The dismissal at Lord's caused a furious reaction from the MCC members.
England vs Australia
June–July 2023
The 2023 Ashes produced a succession of DRS controversies around edge detection — Hotspot and Snicko contradicting each other in critical moments — exposing the continued limitations of ball-tracking and edge-detection technology in high-stakes Test cricket.
England vs Australia
31 July 2023
Stuart Broad, in his final Test, cheekily counted down to Steve Smith's supposedly final Test innings, winding up the Australian.
England vs Australia
2 July 2023
Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow as he wandered out of his crease assuming the ball was dead, sparking a massive 'Spirit of Cricket' controversy.
England vs Australia
16 June 2023
Ben Duckett's startlingly aggressive batting against Australia's pace attack at Edgbaston set the tone for England's Bazball-era Ashes campaign, repeatedly taking on Cummins and Starc with reverse sweeps and premeditated strokes that disoriented Australia's plans.
India Women vs England Women
24 September 2022
Deepti Sharma ran out Charlie Dean at the non-striker's end to seal an ODI series sweep. The dismissal reignited the Mankad debate globally.
England Women vs India Women
24 September 2022
Deepti Sharma ran out Charlotte Dean at the non-striker's end for backing up too far, sparking a fierce global debate about the spirit of cricket versus the laws of the game.
Australia Women vs England Women
20 January 2022
The multi-format Women's Ashes points system was criticised for effectively allowing Australia to retain the Ashes before the Test match, making the flagship Test feel meaningless.
India Women vs England Women
24 September 2022
Jhulan Goswami's farewell match at Lord's was overshadowed by the Mankad controversy, and many felt India's greatest fast bowler deserved a more befitting send-off.
England Women
May–August 2022
England Women's star Nat Sciver-Brunt took an extended break from cricket in 2022 to prioritise her mental health — a decision that sparked the most substantive conversation about player welfare and mental health in women's cricket, and prompted Cricket England to review its player support frameworks.
England U19
10 June 2022
Allegations of racism within the England youth cricket system emerged as part of the broader investigation into discrimination in English cricket triggered by Azeem Rafiq's testimony.
India U19 vs England U19
5 February 2022
India U19's exuberant celebrations after winning the 2022 U19 World Cup went viral, with some senior commentators criticising the youngsters for being 'over the top' while fans found it endearing.
India U19 vs England U19
5 February 2022
India's Under-19 team defeated England in the 2022 U19 World Cup Final in Antigua, but their on-field celebrations — including aggressive gesturing directed at England players — prompted a brief controversy about sportsmanship at youth level that played out on social media for days.
India vs England
24-25 February 2021
Multiple controversial LBW decisions in the pink-ball Ahmedabad Test that finished inside two days, with questions about ball tracking accuracy on a turning pitch.
India vs England
5-9 March 2021
The on-field umpire's 'soft signal' of out for a Ben Stokes catch that appeared to have been grassed was upheld by the third umpire, sparking fury over the soft signal rule.
England vs South Africa
2021-10-26
Kagiso Rabada's targeted assault on Ben Stokes — one of cricket's most powerful all-rounders — across T20 and Test cricket produced one of modern cricket's great personal rivalries, with Rabada's pace and Stokes's counter-attacking instincts creating compelling confrontations.
Australia vs England
2021-12-08
Mitchell Starc's inswinging yorker to Joe Root in the 2021-22 Ashes — repeatedly bowling through the gate between bat and pad — became the symbol of England's batting vulnerability to left-arm inswing and contributed to Australia's 4-0 series win.
India vs England
24 February 2021
The third Test between India and England at the newly rebuilt Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad ended inside two days, with 30 wickets falling on a pitch that turned sharply from the first session.
ECB / English Cricket
21 July 2021
The ECB's creation of 'The Hundred,' a 100-ball competition with new rules and city-based franchises, divided English cricket, with critics arguing it undermined the county system and was a solution to a problem that didn't exist.
England vs Pakistan
5-9 August 2020
Play was stopped for bad light despite the availability of floodlights, frustrating fans and players as Pakistan pushed for a result.
South Africa vs England
January 2020
Confusion arose about whether a ball was dead after a no-ball was bowled and the batsman was hit, leading to debate about free hit procedures.
England vs New Zealand
14 July 2019
Umpire Kumar Dharmasena awarded six runs on an overthrow that deflected off Ben Stokes' bat, when the correct call should have been five. The decision may have changed the outcome of the World Cup final.
England vs Australia
1-5 August 2019
Multiple decisions in the 2019 Ashes were upheld as 'umpire's call' despite ball tracking showing the ball hitting the stumps, reigniting the debate about the DRS threshold.
England vs Australia
14-18 August 2019
Marnus Labuschagne replaced Steve Smith as cricket's first concussion substitute after Smith was hit by a Jofra Archer bouncer. England questioned whether it was a like-for-like replacement.
England vs Australia
22-25 August 2019
During Ben Stokes' miraculous Headingley chase, Jack Leach survived an LBW appeal that was given 'umpire's call' on review, allowing the legendary partnership to continue.
England vs Australia
25 August 2019
Nathan Lyon dropped a simple chance to run out Ben Stokes at Headingley, and earlier Tim Paine missed a stumping chance that would have ended England's miraculous chase.
England vs Australia
4 August 2019
Nathan Lyon dropped the ball next to the stumps near a grounded Jonny Bairstow, widely seen as an attempt to goad the batsman into a stumping dismissal.
England vs Australia
17 August 2019
Jofra Archer's fierce bouncer struck Steve Smith on the neck, felling him and forcing him out of the next Test with delayed concussion symptoms.
England vs Australia
2019-08-14
Jofra Archer's bouncer that struck Steve Smith on the neck at Lord's in 2019 exposed both the danger and drama of fast bowling — Smith retired hurt, was concussed, missed the third Test, and returned to score twin hundreds, making it one of the Ashes' most emotional storylines.
New Zealand vs England
2019-11-28
Neil Wagner's relentless bouncer strategy against Joe Root during New Zealand's 2019 Test series — bowling exclusively short deliveries at Root's body from around the wicket — exposed how even the world's best Test batsman could be rattled by intelligently sustained short-pitched bowling.
England vs Australia
2019-08-01
James Anderson's specific plan to dismiss David Warner in the 2019 Ashes — targeting his front-pad movement with late inswing and full-pitched deliveries that trapped him LBW or bowled repeatedly — produced Warner's worst Ashes series statistically (95 runs in 10 innings) and Anderson's greatest personal triumph.
England vs New Zealand
2019-07-14
Trent Boult took a seemingly match-winning catch but stepped on the boundary rope, gifting England a crucial six in the World Cup Final.
England vs New Zealand
2019-07-14
The 2019 World Cup Final featured a freak overthrow off Ben Stokes' bat that went for six runs, sparking endless debate and proving that cricket's greatest moments are often its most absurd.
England vs New Zealand
14 July 2019
England won the 2019 World Cup Final on a boundary count tiebreaker after both the match and Super Over were tied, amid controversy over a crucial overthrow that awarded England six runs instead of five.
England Women
3 September 2019
England's wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor was forced to retire at just 30 due to severe anxiety, raising important questions about mental health support in women's cricket.
England vs New Zealand
2019-07-14
The most extraordinary finish in World Cup history — the final tied, the Super Over tied, and England were declared World Champions on boundary count. New Zealand were devastated. The boundary countback rule was subsequently abolished.
England vs Australia
2019-08-25
England needed 73 off the last 17 overs with one wicket remaining. Ben Stokes scored 135 not out, hitting the winning four off Pat Cummins to give England a 1-wicket victory — the most remarkable Ashes run chase since Botham's Leeds 1981.
Australia vs England (Women)
2019-02-14
Ellyse Perry made 213 not out — the highest score ever in a Women's Ashes Test — while also taking 7 wickets in the match to produce the greatest all-round performance in Women's Test history.
England vs New Zealand
2019-07-14
Ben Stokes dived for his crease as Martin Guptill's throw deflected off his outstretched bat to the boundary — the umpires awarded 6 runs (4 for the boundary + 2 being run), though replays suggested only 5 should have been given. The 'extra' run may have changed the World Cup result.
Australia vs England
November-December 2017
Stuart Broad was again at the centre of a caught-behind controversy in the Ashes, this time in Australia, with DRS technology at the heart of the debate.
England (off-field)
25 September 2017
Ben Stokes was arrested after a violent incident outside a Bristol nightclub, leading to criminal charges, a trial, and his exclusion from the Ashes tour.
India Women vs England Women
23 July 2017
India controversially demoted Mithali Raj in the batting order during the World Cup Final at Lord's, a decision that many blamed for India's defeat.
India vs England
November 2016
The third umpire failed to check for a front-foot no-ball on a wicket-taking delivery, a standard protocol that was missed. The dismissal stood without the check being made.
West Indies vs England
2016-04-03
After Carlos Brathwaite hit four sixes to win the T20 World Cup Final, Marlon Samuels celebrated by draping himself in a blanket-like flag and sitting in a chair with his feet up.
England Women
12 May 2016
England's greatest women's cricketer Charlotte Edwards was allegedly pushed into retirement by the ECB and new coach Mark Robinson as part of a 'new direction' for the team.
West Indies vs England
2016-04-03
West Indies needed 19 off the last over. Carlos Brathwaite hit Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes to win the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup — the greatest single-over comeback in World Cup history.
England vs Australia
6 August 2015
Joe Root survived a plumb LBW at Trent Bridge after Australia's DRS review returned umpire's call — with only a fraction of the ball clipping the stumps. Root went on to score 130 and England won the match to retain the Ashes.
Bangladesh vs England
9 March 2015
Tamim Iqbal survived a clear LBW appeal early in Bangladesh's 2015 World Cup chase at Adelaide. England used their review but Hot Spot was inconclusive. Tamim scored 95 and Bangladesh won by 15 runs, knocking England out of the World Cup.
England vs Australia
6 August 2015
Joe Root survived a clear LBW — umpire Aleem Dar gave it not out and Australia's review showed umpire's call with ball just clipping the stumps at under 50%. Root scored 130 and England retained the Ashes.
Bangladesh vs England
9 March 2015
Tamim Iqbal survived an early LBW when umpire Ian Gould gave it not out and England's review found nothing on Hot Spot. Tamim scored 95 and Bangladesh won by 15 runs — knocking England out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time in their history.
England vs Australia
2015-09-13
Ben Stokes was given out for 'obstructing the field' after raising his hand to protect himself from a throw, becoming only the 7th player in ODI history to be dismissed that way.
England vs Sri Lanka
June 2014
A controversial five-run penalty was awarded during an England-Sri Lanka Test, sparking debate about when and how penalty runs should be applied.
England vs Sri Lanka
3 June 2014
Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake ran out Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end during an ODI, making Buttler a repeat victim of the controversial dismissal.
England vs India
17 July 2014
Virat Kohli and James Anderson had intense verbal exchanges throughout the 2014 series in England, with Kohli accusing Anderson of being abusive and disrespectful.
England vs India
13 July 2014
James Anderson allegedly pushed Ravindra Jadeja in the players' corridor at Trent Bridge during the 2014 Test series, leading to ICC charges and hearings.
England vs India
9 July 2014
James Anderson and Virat Kohli waged a fierce verbal battle throughout England's 2014 Test series, with Anderson targeting Kohli's technique against the swinging ball. The feud — and Kohli's early struggles — led to a transformation: Kohli scored 186 at Old Trafford to silence his critics and emerge as the player who would dominate world cricket for a decade.
England vs India
2014-07-09
Stuart Broad's specific plan to exploit Virat Kohli's drive outside off stump during India's 2014 England tour — taking his wicket four times in the series through the same channel — contributed to Kohli's disastrous tour (134 runs at 13.4) and a rare period of sustained vulnerability for the world's future number-one batsman.
India, Australia, England vs Rest of Cricket World
8 February 2014
India, Australia, and England pushed through a radical ICC restructuring that gave them a vastly disproportionate share of revenue and governance power, undermining smaller cricketing nations.
England vs India
12 July 2014
An alleged physical altercation between Ravindra Jadeja and James Anderson in the players' tunnel at Trent Bridge led to charges, counter-charges, and a messy ICC hearing that satisfied nobody.
England vs Australia
10-14 July 2013
Stuart Broad edged a ball clearly to slip but was given not out. He refused to walk, and Australia had no DRS reviews left.
Australia vs England
12 June 2013
David Warner punched Joe Root in a bar altercation during the Champions Trophy, leading to a suspension that set the tone for a hostile 2013 Ashes series.
England vs Australia
July-August 2013
The Hot Spot infrared technology was shown to be unreliable during the 2013 Ashes, failing to detect clear edges and undermining confidence in DRS.
Australia vs England (off-field)
13 June 2013
David Warner punched Joe Root in the face at a bar in Birmingham during the ICC Champions Trophy, leading to Warner's suspension.
Australia vs England
24 November 2013
Mitchell Johnson bowled one of the most intimidating spells in Ashes history, terrifying England's batsmen with extreme pace and aggression across the entire 5-0 whitewash.
Australia vs England
6 December 2013
Brad Haddin engaged in sustained verbal abuse of James Anderson throughout the 2013-14 Ashes, reducing Anderson to tears according to some reports.
Australia vs England
12 August 2013
Australian coach Darren Lehmann urged Australian fans to give Stuart Broad such a hard time during the return Ashes that he'd 'want to go home and cry.'
England vs Australia
12 July 2013
Stuart Broad stood his ground after a massive edge was caught at slip, refusing to walk. The umpire gave him not out, infuriating Australia.
Australia vs England
2013-11-21
Mitchell Johnson's sustained pace assault during the 2013-14 Ashes transformed the series, terrorising England's batting lineup with deliveries regularly exceeding 150km/h and causing psychological damage that led to a 5-0 whitewash.
Australia vs England
2013-12-08
James Anderson, cricket's most lethal number 11 batsman, produced various comedy batting moments throughout his career, including frustrated bat throws and bizarre dismissals.
England vs Australia
2013-07-10
Stuart Broad edged massively to slip but stood his ground and was given not out by the umpire, brazenly refusing to walk in one of the Ashes' most shameless moments.
England vs South Africa
August 2012
An appeal for obstructing the field was considered during the Lord's Test between England and South Africa, highlighting one of cricket's most rarely invoked Laws.
India vs England
13 December 2012
Kevin Pietersen was given not out on a caught-behind appeal from India when replays and Hot Spot suggested an edge. India reviewed — DRS backed England, leaving the not-out standing under inconclusive evidence rules. Pietersen went on to score 186, one of his finest Test innings, and England won the match. India felt DRS inconsistencies had cost them a crucial wicket at a defining moment.
England (internal conflict)
12 August 2012
Kevin Pietersen sent derogatory text messages about England captain Andrew Strauss to members of the opposing South African team during a Test match.
England vs Australia
21-25 July 2011
Ian Bell was run out in bizarre circumstances when he assumed the ball was dead at the tea break, only for India to appeal and the umpires to give him out. MS Dhoni later withdrew the appeal.
England vs Pakistan
26 August 2010
Pakistani captain Salman Butt, bowler Mohammad Amir, and bowler Mohammad Asif were caught in a News of the World sting arranging deliberate no-balls at precise moments during the Lord's Test.
Australia vs England
2010-11-28
Graeme Swann's 'Sprinkler' dance became England's signature celebration during the 2010-11 Ashes, infuriating Australians and delighting England fans.
Australia vs England
2010-12-26
England's Barmy Army mercilessly mocked Mitchell Johnson's moustache and bowling with a song that became one of cricket's most famous terrace chants.
Australia vs England
2010-11-25
Peter Siddle took an Ashes hat-trick on his birthday, but the story that captured everyone's imagination was that the vegan fast bowler celebrated with bananas instead of beer.
England vs Pakistan
26 August 2010
A News of the World sting exposed Pakistan captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Asif for deliberately bowling no-balls at pre-arranged moments during the Lord's Test, leading to criminal convictions and bans.
England vs Australia
8-12 July 2009
England survived the final session with last pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar at the crease. Australia were convinced they had Anderson LBW but the appeal was turned down.
England vs Australia
8 July 2009
Michael Clarke nicked Andrew Flintoff to Matt Prior in a clear caught-behind but umpire Rudi Koertzen gave it not out. Clarke survived to help Australia save a famous draw, with the last pair lasting 69 balls.
England vs Australia
8 July 2009
Michael Clarke edged Flintoff to Prior in Australia's second innings but umpire Billy Doctrove gave it not out. Clarke's survival allowed Anderson and Panesar to famously bat out the final 69 balls for a draw.
England vs New Zealand
June 2008
Kevin Pietersen's revolutionary switch hit raised questions about LBW law, wide calls, and field placement when a batsman changes from right to left-handed mid-delivery.
England vs New Zealand
2008-06-15
Kevin Pietersen stunned cricket by switching from right-handed to left-handed mid-delivery to smash Scott Styris for six, effectively inventing the 'switch hit.'
India vs England
2007-09-19
Yuvraj Singh hit Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes in a single over during the 2007 T20 World Cup, the fastest fifty in T20I history.
England vs India
2007-09-05
Just days after Yuvraj Singh's six sixes, Dimitri Mascarenhas hit five sixes off one Yuvraj Singh over in an ODI, in a delicious irony that cricket fans loved.
India vs England
2007-09-19
Yuvraj Singh hit Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes in a single over at the 2007 T20 World Cup — the fastest T20 fifty ever at the time (12 balls), one of only a handful of times six sixes in an over have been hit in international cricket.
Australia vs England
2007-01-05
Australia whitewashed England 5-0 in the 2006-07 Ashes — revenge for England's 2005 series win — with every Test won by a margin of over 200 runs, confirming Ponting's side as the dominant Test team of the decade.
Australia vs England
2007-01-05
Shane Warne played his final Test at the SCG in January 2007 — retiring with 708 wickets, the world record at the time (later broken by Muralitharan), after completing the 5-0 Ashes whitewash. His final wicket: Andrew Flintoff, caught at slip.
England vs Pakistan
17-20 August 2006
Umpire Darrell Hair accused Pakistan of ball tampering. Pakistan refused to take the field after tea, and the match was forfeited — the first forfeiture in Test history.
England vs Pakistan
2006
Inzamam-ul-Haq was given out 'handled the ball' in a Test match after instinctively swatting the ball away from his stumps, one of cricket's rarest dismissals.
Pakistan vs England
20 January 2006
Shoaib Akhtar targeted Andrew Flintoff with express pace throughout Pakistan's 2006 home series against England — the first between the countries on Pakistani soil in 13 years. Their duel — cricket's fastest bowler against England's most physically imposing batsman — was one of the great individual battles of the mid-2000s era.
England vs Pakistan
20 August 2006
Pakistan forfeited a Test match at The Oval after umpire Darrell Hair penalized them five runs for ball tampering, leading to Pakistan refusing to take the field.
England vs Various
2006-03-01
England spinner Monty Panesar became famous for his spectacularly poor fielding, with his attempts to stop the ball providing more entertainment than many batsmen.
Australia vs England
2006-12-16
Adam Gilchrist revealed after his match-winning 57-ball century in the Adelaide Ashes Test that he'd been batting with a squash ball in his glove to improve his grip.
England vs Pakistan
20 August 2006
Umpire Darrell Hair penalized Pakistan five runs for ball tampering and changed the ball during the fourth Test at The Oval, leading Pakistan to refuse to take the field and becoming the first team to forfeit a Test match.
Pakistan vs England
2006-09-20
Inzamam-ul-Haq's 'Obstructing the Field' dismissal at The Oval in 2006 — the first such dismissal in Test cricket in 56 years — highlighted Law 37's ambiguity about what constitutes deliberate obstruction versus instinctive self-protection.
England vs Australia
4-7 August 2005
Michael Kasprowicz was given out caught behind in one of the closest Ashes matches ever, but replays suggested his glove was off the bat handle when the ball hit it.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
During his famous 68 in England's second innings at Edgbaston in 2005, Andrew Flintoff survived LBW appeals that replays suggested were out. England won by just 2 runs — the narrowest possible margin — making every reprieve Flintoff received potentially match-deciding.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
Andrew Flintoff survived at least one LBW appeal during his crucial second-innings 68 at Edgbaston — ball-tracking later suggested the ball was hitting the stumps, but the pre-DRS umpire gave it not out. Flintoff's innings powered England's total and set up a historic two-run victory that turned the 2005 Ashes.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
Andrew Flintoff engaged in relentless verbal and physical intimidation of Ricky Ponting throughout the iconic 2005 Ashes series.
England vs Australia
25 August 2005
Brett Lee and Andrew Flintoff engaged in an intense physical battle throughout the 2005 Ashes, with both players targeting each other with short-pitched bowling.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
Steve Harmison's bouncer struck Ricky Ponting on the cheekguard of his helmet at Edgbaston in 2005, drawing blood that ran visibly down Ponting's face. The image of the Australian captain batting on with blood dripping from his cheek became one of the 2005 Ashes' most iconic moments — symbolising England's refusal to be intimidated.
England vs Australia
2005-08-04
Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen's personal duel during the 2005 Ashes — culminating in Pietersen's extraordinary 158 at The Oval against Warne and Australia's best bowling — defined both the series and a remarkable personal rivalry that lasted for years.
England vs Australia
2005-08-25
Unknown substitute fielder Gary Pratt ran out Ricky Ponting with a direct hit, triggering an epic tantrum from Ponting who ranted at the England dressing room as he walked off.
England vs Australia
2005-08-04
Glenn McGrath missed the pivotal Edgbaston Ashes Test after stepping on a cricket ball during the warm-up, changing the course of the 2005 Ashes.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
Ricky Ponting was furious after being run out by England substitute fielder Gary Pratt during the 2005 Ashes, accusing England of abusing the substitute fielder rule to gain an unfair tactical advantage.
England vs Australia
2005-08-07
After England won the second Ashes Test by 2 runs — the narrowest Ashes victory in history — Andrew Flintoff walked to Brett Lee, who sat dejected on the pitch, knelt beside him and consoled him. The photograph became cricket's most iconic image of sportsmanship.
England vs Australia
2005-09-12
Kevin Pietersen made 158 in his first Ashes Test appearance at The Oval — including sixes off Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath — to help England draw the final Test and win their first Ashes since 1987.
England vs Australia
2005-08-07
England beat Australia by 2 runs at Edgbaston in 2005 — the narrowest Ashes victory in history, a match that swung multiple times across four days, and is widely voted the greatest Test match ever played.
England vs Australia
2005-09-12
Andrew Flintoff made 402 runs and took 24 wickets in the 2005 Ashes — joint Man of the Series with Shane Warne — in a sustained all-round performance that defined the series and England's first Ashes win in 18 years.
England vs South Africa
26 July 2004
South Africa were accused of ball tampering during the third Test against England at The Oval in 2004, with the ball being replaced by umpires.
West Indies vs England
2004-04-12
Brian Lara batted for 778 minutes to score 400 not out against England in Antigua — reclaiming the world record he had lost to Matthew Hayden and setting a mark that has never been approached since.
India vs England
1 March 2003
Sachin Tendulkar was given out LBW off a ball that appeared to be going well over the stumps, sparking outrage among Indian fans.
Pakistan vs England
2003-02-22
Shoaib Akhtar broke the 100mph barrier in the 2003 World Cup and celebrated with his trademark chain-ripping, arms-spread theatrics that were as entertaining as the delivery itself.
England vs Zimbabwe (forfeited)
13 February 2003
England refused to play their 2003 World Cup group match in Harare, Zimbabwe, citing security and political concerns related to the Mugabe regime, forfeiting crucial points that contributed to their early elimination.
Pakistan vs England
2003-02-22
Shoaib Akhtar bowled a delivery clocked at 100.2mph against Nick Knight at the 2003 World Cup — the fastest delivery in the history of cricket according to official speed gun measurements.
Australia vs England
2003-01-02
Steve Waugh made 102 in his final Ashes Test at the SCG — reaching his century off the last ball before tea with a boundary, having been dropped from Tests only to be recalled for this series finale, in what became one of cricket's most celebrated farewell innings.
India vs England
13 July 2002
Sourav Ganguly removed his shirt and waved it from the Lord's balcony after India's dramatic NatWest Trophy victory, in response to Andrew Flintoff's similar act in Mumbai.
New Zealand vs England
2002-03-15
Nathan Astle scored the fastest double century in Test history in just 153 balls, turning an impossible chase into cricket's most entertaining assault on bowling.
India vs England
2002-07-13
India needed 146 off 25 overs with 5 wickets down in the NatWest Trophy Final. Mohammed Kaif (87*) and Yuvraj Singh (69) guided India to victory, with Sourav Ganguly memorably removing his shirt on the Lord's balcony to celebrate.
South Africa vs England
18 January 2000
Hansie Cronje engineered a contrived result at Centurion after rain had washed out most of the Test, later revealed to have been done at the behest of a bookmaker in exchange for a leather jacket and cash.
West Indies vs England
2000-04-18
Curtly Ambrose played his final Test in Barbados in April 2000, retiring with 405 wickets at 20.99 — the end of an era that had seen West Indies produce the finest fast bowlers in cricket's history across 25 consecutive years.
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.
England vs Australia
1997-06-05
Glenn McGrath's 8/38 at Edgbaston in 1997 — the finest bowling performance of the Ashes series — included the repeated dismissal of Michael Atherton through metronomic accuracy outside off stump that reduced England's best batsman to helplessness.
England vs Various
1997-01-01
Phil 'The Cat' Tufnell was so bad at fielding that his nickname was ironic — he earned it for his ability to sleep anywhere, not for his agility.
West Indies vs England
1994-02-25
Curtly Ambrose's devastating 6/24 in 10 overs at Port-of-Spain 1994 — including dismissing Graham Gooch, the backbone of England's batting — produced one of the great fast bowling spells that left England all out for 46, their lowest total in modern times.
England vs South Africa
1994-08-18
After being struck on the helmet by Fanie de Villiers, Devon Malcolm told South Africa 'You guys are history' — then backed it up by taking 9/57 in one of cricket's greatest bowling performances fuelled by pure personal fury.
England vs South Africa
23 July 1994
England captain Mike Atherton was caught on camera applying dirt from his pocket to the ball during the Lord's Test against South Africa, leading to a fine and a crisis of confidence.
England vs South Africa
1994-08-20
After being hit on the helmet by Fanie de Villiers, Devon Malcolm told South Africa 'You guys are history.' He then took 9/57 — the best bowling figures by an England fast bowler in Test history — to bowl South Africa out for 175.
West Indies vs England
1994-04-01
Curtly Ambrose produced one of cricket's most sustained bowling spells — taking 7 English wickets for just 1 run in 32 balls, reducing England from 40/1 to 46 all out as he became virtually unplayable on a lively Queen's Park Oval pitch.
England vs Australia
4 June 1993
While not a controversial decision itself, Mike Gatting's utter disbelief at being bowled by Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket highlighted how umpires and batsmen alike were unprepared for extreme spin.
West Indies vs England
18 November 1993
Curtly Ambrose refused to remove his white wristbands when asked by the umpire, leading to a standoff that required captain Richie Richardson's intervention.
England vs Australia
1993-06-04
Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket spun so viciously from outside leg stump to hit off stump that Mike Gatting's bewildered expression became one of cricket's most iconic images.
England vs Australia
1993-06-04
Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket pitched outside leg stump and spun 18 inches to hit the top of Mike Gatting's off stump — the most famous single delivery in cricket history, announcing to the world that leg-spin was not dead.
England vs South Africa
22 March 1992
A farcical rain rule calculation left South Africa needing 22 runs off 1 ball in the World Cup semi-final, robbing them of a realistic chance of reaching the final.
England vs Pakistan
July 1992
Waqar Younis's brutal reverse-swing yorker campaign against English batsmen in the 1992 series — particularly Graeme Hick — was one of cricket's most devastating bowling attacks. Hick was repeatedly bowled or LBW as Waqar's late-swinging yorkers crashed into the stumps and toes, leaving England batsmen baffled and bruised.
England vs Pakistan
1992-08-06
Wasim Akram's decade-long pursuit of Michael Atherton's wicket through devastating reverse swing and inswing produced one of cricket's most compelling ongoing rivalries — England's most determined opener against the greatest left-arm fast bowler of all time.
England vs Pakistan
1992-06-18
Wasim Akram's reverse-swinging deliveries at Lord's in 1992 — dismissing Graham Gooch with a delivery that moved late and sharply to hit the top of off stump — epitomised Pakistan's mastery of a bowling art that England could neither replicate nor counter.
England vs Pakistan
1992-06-04
Waqar Younis repeatedly targeted Alec Stewart's front foot with devastating inswinging yorkers throughout the 1990s, making Stewart's dismissal — bowled or LBW — a recurring pattern that defined both men's careers as a study in attacking strategy against a technically orthodox batsman.
Pakistan vs England
1992-03-25
With England seemingly in control of the 1992 World Cup Final chase, Wasim Akram dismissed Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis with consecutive balls using devastating reverse swing — the two wickets that sealed Pakistan's first and only World Cup title.
England vs Australia
1990-08-09
Merv Hughes's relentless verbal and physical campaign against Graham Gooch during the 1990 Ashes — in which Gooch was in magnificent form scoring 456 runs including 333 — illustrated the limits of intimidation against a batsman of exceptional concentration and technique.
Pakistan vs England
8 December 1987
England captain Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana had a furious finger-pointing row that caused an entire day's play to be lost.
England vs West Indies
1986-07-03
After Greg Thomas told Viv Richards he'd missed the ball, Richards smashed the next delivery out of the ground and told Thomas to go find it.
England vs West Indies
2 August 1984
Malcolm Marshall broke Mike Gatting's nose with a sharply rising bouncer at Headingley in 1984 — while bowling with a broken thumb in a plaster cast. Blood poured from Gatting's shattered nose as he retired hurt. Marshall refused to leave the field and came back to take wickets. One of Test cricket's most viscerally brutal moments.
England vs West Indies
1984-06-14
Michael Holding's specific assault on Ian Botham during West Indies' famous 'Blackwash' series in 1984 — where England lost all five Tests — showed how Botham's attacking instincts, normally devastating, became a liability against sustained express pace.
England vs West Indies
1984-08-14
West Indies whitewashed England 5-0 in the 1984 series — the first time England had ever been beaten 5-0 in a home series — through the most dominant fast bowling combination ever assembled: Marshall, Holding, Garner, and Baptiste.
England vs Pakistan
1982-07-29
The contest between Ian Botham and Imran Khan in the 1982 England-Pakistan series — two of cricket's greatest all-rounders simultaneously competing as batsman and bowler against each other — produced unique dual confrontations where both men fought for dominance in both disciplines.
England vs Various
1982-07-01
Cricket crowds have produced some of the funniest sledges in sport, from heckling players about their personal lives to creative musical chants.
South Africa vs England/Sri Lanka/West Indies/Australia rebel XIs
6 March 1982
Multiple international teams sent unofficial rebel squads to play in apartheid-era South Africa, leading to lengthy bans for participating players and deepening cricket's political fault lines.
West Indies vs England
1981-03-13
Michael Holding's five-ball over at Bridgetown in 1981 — three deliveries hitting the stumps or missing fractionally, then a perfect yorker — became the most celebrated over in Test history, reducing master technician Geoff Boycott to helplessness.
West Indies vs England
1981-02-27
Joel Garner's extraordinary 6ft 8 height — generating deliveries that rose from a good length to above shoulder height — made even the technically masterful Geoff Boycott look helpless, as balls the defensive Yorkshireman could normally leave safely became impossible to ignore.
England vs Various
1981-07-21
Ian 'Beefy' Botham's off-field escapades were as legendary as his on-field heroics, making him cricket's original rock star.
England vs Australia
1981-07-21
England, following on 227 runs behind and 500-to-1 outsiders with bookmakers, were bowled to 135/7 in their second innings when Ian Botham walked in and made 149 not out — setting up a Bob Willis spell that completed the most improbable Ashes victory ever.
England vs West Indies
1980-06-05
Bob Willis's sustained fast bowling at Viv Richards throughout the 1980 Test series in England — where Richards scored with imperious power against everything Willis delivered — produced one of the era's clearest demonstrations of batting genius overcoming England's best pace attack.
Australia vs England
15 December 1979
Dennis Lillee used an aluminium bat that damaged the ball. England captain Mike Brearley complained, leading to a 10-minute standoff as Lillee refused to change bats.
Australia vs England
1979-12-15
Dennis Lillee walked out to bat with an aluminium 'Combat' bat, sparking a 10-minute standoff when England captain Mike Brearley complained it was damaging the ball.
West Indies vs England
1979-06-23
Viv Richards made 138 not out — the highest score in a World Cup final until 2003 — as West Indies defended their 1975 title by beating England at Lord's in a match that confirmed West Indian dominance of world cricket.
England vs West Indies
3 June 1976
Tony Greig infamously said he intended to make the West Indies 'grovel,' a comment with racial undertones that provoked an incredible West Indian response.
England vs West Indies
1976-06-03
Andy Roberts's ferocious response to Tony Greig's 'grovel' statement — combined with Viv Richards's batting dominance — turned the 1976 England-West Indies series into an emphatic West Indian statement about the cost of underestimating them.
England vs West Indies
1976-07-22
45-year-old Brian Close, recalled to face West Indies' pace onslaught, took blow after blow from Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, and Wayne Daniel at Old Trafford without complaint — walking toward the ball, refusing to take evasive action, in one of cricket's most extreme acts of physical courage.
West Indies vs England
1976-08-12
West Indies' 1976 tour of England introduced the most feared fast bowling quartet in cricket history — Holding, Roberts, Daniel, and Holder — as they beat England 3-0 in a series defined by pace, aggression, and the emergence of Viv Richards as the world's best batsman.
Australia vs England
29 November 1974
Jeff Thomson's debut Ashes series in 1974-75 was one of cricket's most terrifying performances. Alongside Dennis Lillee, Thomson targeted England batsmen with extreme pace — breaking bones, hitting groin guards, and reducing the England tour to an exercise in survival. England lost 4-1 and several players carried physical and psychological scars for years.
Australia vs England
1974-11-29
Jeff Thomson's explosive debut Ashes series in 1974-75 — where he regularly bowled above 95mph with a sling-arm action — produced constant confrontations with English batsmen including Tony Greig, who had rashly stated England would make Australia 'grovel'.
England vs Australia
1971-01-29
John Snow's sustained intimidatory bowling against the young Sunil Gavaskar during India's 1971 tour of England — deliberately targeting the 21-year-old debutant with short-pitched deliveries — tested cricket's ethical boundaries around bodyline-adjacent bowling at tail-enders.
India vs England
1971-08-24
India beat England at The Oval in 1971 — their first ever Test victory in England after 39 years of trying — through Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's 6/38 that bowled England out for 101, completing a 4-wicket win that validated a decade of Indian cricket development.
England vs South Africa (cancelled)
28 August 1968
Basil D'Oliveira's selection for England's tour to South Africa in 1968 was refused by the apartheid government, leading to the tour's cancellation and eventually South Africa's expulsion from international cricket.
England vs Australia
1964-08-14
Fred Trueman became the first bowler in Test history to take 300 wickets — getting Neil Hawke caught behind at The Oval in the 1964 Ashes. On being told he was the first, Trueman's response: 'I hope that whoever does it next gets as much pleasure from it as I have.'
England vs West Indies
1963-06-06
Fred Trueman and Garfield Sobers's encounters in the 1963 England-West Indies series — the former England's fastest bowler of his era, the latter cricket's greatest all-rounder — produced battles between two of sport's most charismatic and competitive personalities.
England vs Australia
1956-07-31
Jim Laker took 19 wickets for 90 runs in a single Test match — 9/37 in the first innings and 10/53 in the second — a bowling performance so dominant it remains the most extraordinary individual bowling feat in the history of the game.
England vs Australia
1948-06-10
Alec Bedser's unique ability to dismiss Don Bradman — cricket's greatest batsman — using a specifically designed leg-trap inswinger made Bedser the only bowler to develop and sustain a consistent plan for dismissing Bradman in the post-war period.
England vs Australia
1948-07-08
Ray Lindwall's explosive pace during the 1948 Invincibles tour — where he was the fastest bowler England had faced since Harold Larwood — posed specific challenges to Len Hutton, England's most technically accomplished batsman, testing his technique and concentration throughout.
England vs Australia
1948-08-14
Don Bradman walked out to bat in his final Test innings needing just 4 runs to finish with a career average of 100. Eric Hollies bowled him second ball for 0 — leaving cricket's greatest batsman with an immortal average of 99.94.
Australia vs England
1948-08-18
Don Bradman's 1948 Australian side went through the entire England tour — 34 matches including 5 Tests — without losing a single game, becoming the only team in Ashes history to complete a full tour unbeaten.
England vs Australia
1938-08-23
Len Hutton made 364 against Australia at The Oval in 1938 — breaking Don Bradman's previous record of 334 and setting a world record that stood for 20 years until Gary Sobers broke it in 1958.
Australia vs England
1932-12-02
Harold Larwood's sustained leg-theory assault on Don Bradman during the 1932-33 Ashes became cricket's most notorious bowling attack, reducing Bradman's average and sparking a diplomatic crisis between England and Australia.
Australia vs England
2 December 1932
England captain Douglas Jardine devised the 'Bodyline' strategy of fast, short-pitched bowling aimed at the batsman's body to neutralize Don Bradman, nearly causing a diplomatic crisis between England and Australia.
Australia vs England
1930-07-11
Don Bradman made 334 against England at Headingley in 1930 — the world record at the time, set by a 22-year-old who had already scored 131 and 254 in his previous two Tests of the series — at the peak of the most extraordinary run of batting form cricket has ever seen.
Australia vs England
1877-03-15
The first ever Test match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 — Australia beat England by 45 runs, with Charles Bannerman scoring the first century in Test cricket history (165 retired hurt).