5 times when current players brought shame to cricket

Cricket has been known as a “gentleman’s game” since it’s inception. And, there are numerous incidents to prove the same. However, there also have been certain happenings on the field that might urge people to question the popular belief.

While many of these incidents that put the sport in a bad light, can be attributed to spontaneous actions in response to the high intensity, standoffs on the field, players have been found to have gone out of their way to do certain actions which were deemed as unacceptable by the cricket community.

From racist slurs being hurled to even attempts at tampering the condition of the ball– cricket has seen it all. And, unfortunately, some of these have taken place in the recent past, bringing a lot of shame to the sport. So, here we will have a look at five such incidents, where players, who are currently active at the highest level, did things they should not have done while carrying the hopes of millions and setting an example at the highest level for the upcoming crop of players.

Here are such five incidents:

1. Warner, Smith and Bancroft’s involvement in ‘Sandpaper Gate’ 

It came as a huge shock to everyone when the news broke out that the Australian cricket team’s three top players, including their captain and vice-captain, had been involved in a ball-tampering incident. The date was the 24^th of March in 2018 when one of the darkest days in Australian cricket unfolded.

After the lunch on Day three of the Test match being played between Australia and South Africa, a clip of Cameron Bancroft was aired on TV. The clip had Cameron Bancroft hiding a piece of what was later confirmed to be sandpaper in his trousers. He was then questioned by the umpires and at that moment, he denied altering the condition of the ball being used. The umpires on further found out that the ball’s condition had been altered deliberately.

In the post-match press conference, Steve Smith and Bancroft, confronted the media, admitting to having attempted to alter the condition of the ball being used, using sandpaper. The matter escalated quickly, with even the Australian Prime Minister getting vocal about it in public. Upon further investigation by Cricket Australia, it was confirmed that Steve and Bancroft, along with David Warner were guilty. And, Smith and Warner were handed year-long bans, and Bancroft was suspended for 9 months.

Even though Smith and Warner are back, playing for the national team, but Bancroft, after getting picked for the 2019 Ashes, hasn’t been seen back in the Australian jersey.