Cricket Equipment – Famous Players – Australian Fall Outs

Everyone loves to hear about famous cricket brawls amongst the players. Below are some of the highlights.

Although many people see cricket as a fairly well behaved game as opposed to rugby or football, there are plenty of incidents which have occurred on the cricket pitch that would make you think otherwise. It seems that when cricket players become famous, they abandon their cricket equipment and turn to brawling instead.

International cricket has always been a harsher game than people realise and verbal insults between famous cricket players has become common both on and off the pitch. Sometimes the insults can escalate into more ugly scenes and some incidents have even involved cricket equipment being thrown about on the pitch! Hardly the tea and cake on the village green which some people think it is!

Australia v Pakistan 1981: First Test, Perth
One of the most famous incidents on the cricket pitch occurred when Pakistan toured Australia in 1981-82. Famous players, Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee and Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad clashed with their cricket equipment and it almost turned nasty. Australia were in the lead and Miandad had just completed an easy run when he was obstructed by Lillee who was going for a single. It is said that Lillee deliberately got in the way of Miandad resulting in what could have been a very serious brawl. Miandad pushed Lillee who responded by kicking him in the leg. At this point the umpire, Tony Crafter rushed in to separate the players, but not before Miandad had used his cricket equipment to threaten Lillee. With his cricket bat raised above his head, Miandad was ready to strike but was quickly stopped by Crafter.

The Australian players actually found their own famous player, Dennis Lillee, guilty of obstruction and the Australian Cricket Board imposed a fine on Lillee which was reduced from the normal rate of $200 AUD to $150 AUD. Lillee was also suspended for two 1 day internationals. Although the incident could have been a lot worse, the image of Miandad wielding his cricket equipment around his head, was remembered all over the world for many years to come.

England v Sri Lanka 1999: One-day international, Adelaide
Almost two decades later, and with many clashes between famous players in between, another ugly incident occurred on Australian soil. Famous England fast bowler, Darren Gough, clashed with Sri Lanka’s captain Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranatunga was known to be argumentative, having led his players and their cricket equipment off the field in a protest at a no-ball call against Muttiah Muralitharan.

The same match had an explosive finish when Sri Lankan batsman Roshan Mahanama obstructed Darren Gough from picking up a ball to throw down the wicket. Gough's appeal against Mahanama was turned down and the famous player responded by attempting a head-butt at Mahanama – although this time the batsman was lucky not have been threatened with cricket equipment!

Sports HQ is the European division for Confidence Sporting Goods, inc., the famous manufacturer from Palm Springs, California. We sell a huge range of sporting equipment, including cricket equipment. Because we sell directly to you, you can expect to save up to 70% on normal retail prices when buying from us. Call us today on 01527 598388 for more information or to place an order.