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.
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 Various
2006-01-01
Matthew Hayden's increasingly large bats prompted rival teams to joke about their size and eventually led to ICC regulations on bat dimensions.
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.
South Africa vs Australia
2006-03-12
Australia scored a world-record 434/4 in an ODI and thought they'd won — then South Africa chased it down with 438/9, producing the greatest and most absurd ODI ever.
Bangladesh vs Australia
2006-04-10
Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, sent in as nightwatchman, refused to get out and scored 201* — the only double century by a nightwatchman in Test history.
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
1 November 2006
Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, the first man to bowl at 100 mph, was banned for two years after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone, though the ban was later overturned on appeal.