5 Most Controversial Test cricket moments/series

5. New Zealand vs West Indies, 1980

A Test series from the era where West Indies were unofficially considered the most superior team in the game. After defeating Australia in their home, West Indies were all set to face New Zealand at the Kiwi’s home for 3 Test matches. The series, that saw a great display from the legend Richard Hadlee, also saw conflicts, ugliness, acquisitions of cheating, the worst of umpiring and the death of sportsmanship.

 West Indies decided to bat first after winning the toss and went on to make 140 in the first innings of the first match. The controversy started right from the first session of play as Fred Goodall, the umpire gave out all the three LBW appeals made by Richard Hadlee. Hadlee went on to take 7 LBWs and a total of 12 LBW decisions were given in the game, which became a record for the most LBWs in a game.

Things got even more bitter on the second day when a ball by Michael Holding clearly brushed off the gloves of John Parker and was taken at first slips by Deryck Murray. Parker knew he had edged it and started walking off the pitch but umpire John Hastie gave him not out. Frustrated, Holding kicked the stumps and the image was captured by a local freelance photographer. In the end, New Zealand managed to win the game by a mere one wicket but the game sparked controversies between both the teams.

Things started to cool down as the second match began but picked up flares once again on the third day. Umpire Goodall turned down an appeal against Geoff Howarth, similar to that of John Parker. Howarth was batting on 68 at that moment. Post tea, West Indies refused to get back to the field until Fred Goodall was removed from umpiring.

The New Zealand management persuaded them to play and West Indies came out 12 minutes late but the session saw sportsmanship being murdered brutally. West Indies lost all interest in the game and started dropping catches and boundaries on purpose. The next day’s play was washed down by rain and West Indies had already packed their bags and were all set to leave for home, forfeiting the series.  On the orders of the Caribbean Board, the team stayed but hostility towards the umpires grew more and more.

On the final day, Hadlee while attempting to slash a bouncer from Colin Croft edged it and everyone immediately went up in appeal. Yet again, the appeal was denied by Umpire Goodall. Dejected, Colin knocked off the bails at the non-striker end and refused to pick them up. The very next ball, Colin carried straight through his run-up and bashed into umpire Goodall, knocking him sideways.

The injury was not serious but the emotional damage to cricketing fans was very huge. Even after these consecutive events, Clive Lloyd, the Caribbean skipper kept standing at the slip region. The umpires had to walk all the way to him to talk and ask him to keep his players in check. The second Test ended in a draw, so did the third game.

By the end of the third match, many West Indies players had booked early flights to home but were dissuaded from doing so. The post-match dinner party saw umpire Goodall making racist comments against the Caribbean team. West Indies captain Llyod and manager Rodriguez made forward the request of having neutral umpires in Test matches. This was West Indies’ only defeat in Test matches till the 1994-95 season.