5 Instances of harmful invasions by spectators

Pitch invasion is a common thing in sporting history. There have been thousands of instances in the past when the fans haven’t been able to stop themselves from storming into the field. In this case, the game of cricket is no exception. The sport is also a victim of pitch intrusion. Before the 2000s, it was, in fact, legal to rush into the field after the match ended. However, as time passed by, the rigid behavior of fans resulted in its abolishment.

Be it for devotional purpose or outrageous motive, the fans all around the globe have caused big trouble to the players as well as themselves because of their tendency of pitch invasion. In the current times, this phenomenon has turned out to be one of the biggest causes of concern. There have been multiple incidents when this habit of the aficionados has made the players suffer from severe injuries.

Here, we’ll have a look at some examples of harmful invasions in cricket history

1. A pitch intruder dislocates Australian pacer’s shoulder

It was the first Test of Ashes 1982-83. After a composed Day 1, the visiting spectators started to be more anguish and aggressive by the end of the 2nd day. There were exchange of verbal volleys between the English fans and Aussie players followed by a couple of half-missed chances of pitch invasion. As the day’s end inched closer, an intruder came running into the field and hit the Australian pacer Terry Alderman.

Alderman, who had struck one wicket in the match hitherto, was punched on his back by a drunk 19-year-old lad named, Garry Donnison. The two got engaged in a small fight after this and this eventually resulted in the dislocation of Alderman’s shoulder.

Talking about the incident, the Aussie said, “I can’t remember a lot of how I fell … but I was immediately aware I was injured … it was very painful indeed”. This, in turn, made other grounds change their rules. The MCG banned the bringing of alcohol while the SCG decided to put barbed wires around the ground.

2. A fan threw a beer can on the face of Michael Bevan

The 2nd edition of the ICC NatWest Trophy saw quite a few incidents of pitch invasion. In one of them, a steward was injured because of the howling behavior of the fans. Another such instance took place in the final game of the series, wherein, Michael Bevan had to suffer because of a fan’s stupidity. The Australian side had won the match and during the post-match show, a fan threw a beer can on the face of Michael Bevan, who was seen rubbing his cheek after the incident.

The then-OZ skipper Steve Waugh angrily reacted to this unfortunate happening. He said, “I know I keep harping on about it but someone will get killed. There’s no doubt about it. Michael’s sore and lucky – I don’t think there are any breaks there. It could have been serious, it could have hit him in the eye, the nose, the temple, whatever.”

This consequently resulted in a ban over the Pitch invasion. A fine of $1000 was decided to be enforced on anyone who invaded the pitch and the post-match ceremonies were shifted to the ground itself.

3. Perth resident tackled Khalid Latif and wrestled him to the floor

It was the last game of the 5th ODI of the Pakistan vs Australia ODI series at Perth. After a lot of tussle throughout the match, the contest eventually had a winner as the Aussie side got the better of the opponents and clinched off a victory by 2 wickets.

However, apart from the unbelievable cricketing action, the game also saw lots of drama. The then-Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi was accused of ball-tampering in the game. Another unusual incident that occurred in the game was the invasion of a spectator.

Perth resident David Fraser tackled right-handed batsman Khalid Latif and wrestled him to the floor amidst the game. This caused an injury to both the guys and as a result, the fan had to pay a heavy fine of $9000. David was reportedly drunk and hence, the officials wanted to send a strong message by enforcing the fine.

4. An Afghanistan fan tried to attack Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz

The 36th game of the recently-concluded ICC Cricket World Cup was surrounded by lots of buzz & bustle. The high-octane encounter ended in a nail-biting way as the Pakistan team won the game in the last over. Howbeit, the game also had a dirty side as the fans of both the nations violently attacked each-other.

Some of the heart-broken Afghan fans were spotted attacking an opposition fan after the game ended. Reportedly, an agitated Afghanistan fan also tried to attack Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz, who had played a blinder that day. An image was leaked after the game wherein, the partisan of the Afghanistan team was seen tackling the seamer.

According to the reports, the angry fan wanted to intentionally cause harm to the 34-year-old. There were also reports of juice bottles being thrown on the ground and a security official running into Mohammed Nabi accidentally.

5. A fan runs into Rohit Sharma almost injuring him

The most recent instance of pitch invading occurred just a few days ago as a fan ran onto Rohit Sharma, amidst the game. The incident took place after a wicket fell and Vernon Philander came in to bat. In the meantime, a spectator, who was a die-hard fan of the Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, dodged the security and ran a sprint towards him to touch his idol’s feet. However, this didn’t go well as it resulted in Rohit getting tumbled to the ground.

This isn’t the first such escapade as there have been quite a lot of such occurrences in recent times. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli himself had to be a victim of this during the first test. As a result, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was on air at that moment raised concern over this.

“These incidents happen because security people are not watching the crowd but are watching the match. This has been the perennial problem in India. The security is not there to watch the match for free. They are there to stop such interruptions from happening,” said Gavaskar in the commentary box.