Top 5 controversies during play that brought about a change in the rules

The curtains are down on the 2015 World Cup and co-hosts Australia got a really short time to bask in the glory. The players have had very little time between their next schedule of games in the eighth season of the Indian Premier League.All the teams in the IPL are prepared and eyeing the cup. But not many have prepared for the Fair Play award that is at stake. With CSK winning five times in the last seven seasons, Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads all the way in this category.Here, we take a look at five controversies that led to bringing into focus the concept of fair play in the gentleman’s game. The rules of the game had to be rewritten in light of the unsavoury incidents in these five cases.

#5 Vinoo Mankad running out the non-striker

Every Indian and South African remembers the ‘Friendship Series’ of 1992 turning sour when Kapil Dev ‘Mankaded’ South African batsman Peter Kirsten. The ‘mankading’ phenomenon came into existence after a similar controversy during India’s 1947-48 tour of Australia, when Vinoo Mankad ran out Bill Brown in the second Test while the batsman was out of his ground before the ball was delivered. This infuriated the Australian media but Don Bradman defended Mankad in his autobiography.

This method of dismissal is now widely called ‘Mankading’. Although legal, some argue that a bowler should warn a batsman who backs up too far before dismissing him. It must be noted that both Mankad and Kapil Dev had warned the respective batsmen once before running them out in the same fashion.

#4 Douglas Jardine\'s Bodyline tactics

The 1931-32 England tour of Australia is considered one of the most significant events in the history of the game, and the tour is infamously referred as bodyline. A term coined by the journalist of The Sun Hugh Buggy, ‘Bodyline’ is a tactic where the ball is delivered in the line towards the body of the batsman along the leg stump, with repeated use of short balls. The tactic created an opportunity of leg side deflections where most fielders are placed in the arc around square leg.

The strategy led to a widespread debate in the cricketing world, with many pointing out that it was physically dangerous, unfair and against the spirit of sportsmanship.

Douglas Jardine, captain of the English team touring Australia in 1931-32, devised this plan to contain the peerless Don Bradman. After watching repeated film footage of Bradman showing discomfort against short balls aimed towards the body, he ordered his two fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce to bowl in the line of his body.

The rest, as they say, is history. An Australian mini-series documentary in 1984 titled ‘Bodyline’ further dramatised the events of that torrid tour.

The laws have been amended multiple times on short-pitched bowling ever since, and the matter is hotly debated till today.

#3 Dennis Lillee\'s aluminum bat

On December 14, 1979, during the first Test between Australia and England at the WACA, Perth, Dennis Lillee walked in with an aluminum bat. He drove the ball towards cover that went for three runs as David Grover fetched the ball.

Mike Brearley and the Englishmen promptly complained that the ball was being damaged. An animated discussion followed between Lillee and the umpires. Greg Chappell too insisted that he should revert to a conventional bat, much to the annoyance of his teammate. The bat went flying about 30 yards towards the pavilion as Lillee threw it in anger.

The laws of cricket were amended thereafter stating that the handle and the blade of the bat should consist solely of wood.

#2 The under-arm Chappell incident

Trevor Chappell, mostly remembered for the under-arm incident of 1981, and Greg Chappell, the controversial coach of the Indian cricket team, were both partners in the incident that drew stark criticism from many legends of the game including their older brother Ian Chappell. The former Australian captain Ian described it is “disgraceful”, going on to state that it was "one of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field."

February 1, 1981. Australia and New Zealand were playing the third of five matches in the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the series tied at 1-1.

New Zealand needed a miracle, with 15 needed off the last over of Trevor Chappell. Sir Richard Hadlee was at the crease. The first ball was sent back straight to the boundary. Trevor followed up with a perfect swinging ball to trap Hadlee leg before. In walks Ian Smith who milks the bowler for a couple of the next two deliveries. He misses a straight one and the bowler hits the timber.

New Zealand needed six to tie off the last delivery. Captain Greg Chappell, in order to prevent the bowler from getting hit for a six, orders his younger brother to bowl under-arm. Trevor does exactly that, rolling the ball along the ground, and the batsman Brian McKechnie defends and then throws his bat with disappointment.

The incident was not only booed by the spectators but also drew statements from the Prime Minister of each nation, terming it an act of cowardice. Robert Muldoon, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, criticized the incident as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket.”

“It was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow,” he added.

Malcolm Fraser, then Australian Prime Minister showed his displeasure too and stated that the incident was against the traditions of the game.

The ICC subsequently amended the law, banning under-arm bowling in limited overs cricket as "not within the spirit of the game." Law 24.1b now states, "Under-arm bowling shall not be permitted except by special agreement before the match."

#1 Muttiah Muralitharan called for chucking

19 years since Australian umpire Darrell Hair called Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan spin wizard for chucking in the 1995 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, the ICC has put many modern day bowlers under the scanner for their supposedly illegal action. Murali was called for throwing seven times in the innings before Arjuna Ranatunga removed the bowler from the attack, although reintroducing him in no time at umpire Steve Dunne’s end.

Murali, the elastic wristed bowler, was embroiled in many a controversial ‘chucking calls’ including New Zealand umpire Steve Dunne reporting him on two or three occasions after the Melbourne test. Murali’s career survived after no-ball calls for throwing seven times more in the 1995/96 one-day season, by other Australian umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan at the Gabba.

The ICC in 1996 cleared Muralitharan's action after biomechanical analysis at the University of Western Australia and at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, terming the chucking to be an illusion due to his unusual wrist action. Murali’s doosra was again under question in 2004 and the five degree limit set by the ICC for spinners was revisited.

The Kandy-born cricketer’s unorthodox bowling and further studies and investigation led the ICC to revise the elbow extension limits applicable to all bowlers in 2005. The new limit of 15 degrees, one degree lesser than that with which he bowled the doosra, allowed him to continue without being called for throwing.

Murali went on to be rated the greatest Test bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Here is a video showing umpire Ross Emerson signalling continuous no balls to Murlitharan’s deliveries: