Cricket's 10 biggest cheating scandals of all time

Cricket's 10 biggest cheating scandals of all time originally appeared on Cricket News .

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Amateur "Clicky Ponting" scandal reignites debate over cricket's long cheating history.

Ten infamous incidents span Bodyline, ball tampering, pitch damage, and Sandpapergate.

From Test captains to village cricketers, fair play has repeatedly been tested.

Cricket's ten biggest cheating scandals of all time

A finger click in a Division Two match in North Yorkshire has done something unusual: it has placed amateur cricket in the same conversation as the sport's most notorious professional scandals.

Footage from a fixture between Saltburn CC and Norton CC showed a slip fielder appearing to click his fingers to fake the sound of an edge, convincing the umpire to raise his finger for a wicket that replays suggested never actually happened.

The fielder, Saltburn opener Brian Devine, has since been nicknamed "Clicky Ponting" online, with the clip crossing millions of views within days.

It's a timely reminder that cricket's uneasy relationship with fair play stretches back nearly a century at the very top of the sport. Here are ten of the most infamous episodes.

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Bodyline Tactics (1932–33 Ashes)

Australia went into the 1932-33 Ashes with Don Bradman as its biggest weapon, backed by fine batters like Stan McCabe and captain Bill Woodfull. To blunt that threat, England captain Douglas Jardine devised the now-infamous Bodyline strategy, instructing his pace attack, led by Harold Larwood, to repeatedly bowl short at the bodies and heads of Australian batsmen while stacking a leg-side field to catch the resulting fends.

The tactic worked, with England winning the series 4-1, but it left a trail of physical damage. Woodfull was struck in the chest, and keeper Bert Oldfield suffered a fractured skull after being hit on the temple. McCabe managed to counter the short stuff skilfully with pull and hook shots.

The approach was widely condemned as brutal and unsportsmanlike, exposing England's ruthless streak. It even split the England camp itself, with bowler Gubby Allen refusing to bowl the line and clashing with Jardine over it, while vice-captain Bob Wyatt, along with Freddie Brown, Wally Hammond and the Nawab of Pataudi, also voiced their disapproval.

The row escalated into a diplomatic dispute between the Australian and British governments, eventually forcing the MCC to bring in new rules limiting leg-side fielders and short-pitched bowling.

John Lever and the Vaseline Scandal (1976)

During England's tour of India in 1976-77, fast bowler John Lever produced a stunning display in Delhi, claiming seven wickets in the first innings and three more in the second. However, controversy erupted in Chennai in the third Test, where he again generated extraordinary swing and picked up seven wickets in the first innings.

This time, Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi spotted unusual greasy marks on the ball and alerted match officials. An investigation revealed Lever had tucked strips of Vaseline-soaked gauze under his eyebrows to keep sweat out of his eyes, and the substance had transferred onto the ball each time he touched it.

England maintained the gauze was purely practical given the heat, but India accused him of deliberate tampering. The MCC eventually cleared Lever of any intent to cheat, though the episode triggered a long debate over foreign substances near the ball.

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Michael Atherton and the Pocket Dirt (1994)

Television cameras during a 1994 Test against South Africa at Lord's caught England captain Michael Atherton reaching into his trouser pocket and rubbing a dry substance onto the ball.

When he was called before match referee Peter Burge, Atherton, by his own admission, panicked and claimed the dirt was there to dry his sweaty hands. That explanation didn't match the version he had earlier given England management figures Keith Fletcher and Ray Illingworth, and Burge was reportedly furious once he learned the discrepancy.

Burge later said that had he known Atherton's true intentions, he would have suspended him for two matches and likely ended his captaincy prematurely.

On the field, South Africa completed a crushing 356-run win with a day to spare. Atherton avoided a ban, but the ECB fined him £2,000 for misleading officials, a hit that damaged his reputation just as his captaincy was getting underway.

Waqar Younis ball-tampering suspension (2000)

In July 2000, Pakistan paceman Waqar Younis became the first player at Test or international level to be suspended and fined for ball tampering under the ICC's Code of Conduct, during a match against South Africa.

Television cameras had caught Waqar scuffing the seam and gouging the ball's surface with his fingernails to generate sharp reverse swing.

He wasn't the only Pakistani punished that day: all-rounder Azhar Mahmood was also fined, while captain Moin Khan received a severe reprimand for bringing the game into disrepute given his responsibility as leader.

Waqar was banned for one match, missing a crucial fixture against Sri Lanka, and lost 50 per cent of his match fee. Mahmood was fined 30 per cent of his fee and warned.

Rahul Dravid ball-tampering fine (2004)

During a one-day international against Zimbabwe in Brisbane in January 2004, Indian vice-captain and stand-in wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid was filmed rubbing a half-eaten cough lozenge onto the shiny side of the ball as he walked back to his fielding position.

Match referee Clive Lloyd ruled that Dravid had applied an illegal foreign substance in breach of the laws governing the bal...

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