The real bad boys of sports!

3) Mark Vermeulen

Mark Vermeulen was the subject of disciplinary problems right from his early playing days and faced the axe during the tour to England in 2003 for persistent misconduct. Then in 2004, he suffered a skull fracture after a nasty one from Irfan Pathan caught him cold during the ODI series in Australia. He returned in 2006 after a successful surgery, donning the colors of Werneth in the Lancashire Leagues.

After being rebuked by a section of the crowd, he did the unthinkable by throwing a cricket ball back at them (narrowly missing a child). He followed this by threatening a spectator with a spike marking the boundary and then fought his own teammates. He was implicated and suspended from English cricket for 1 year. However, the worst was yet to come.

Upon return to Zimbabwe, he set fire to the buildings of the national cricket academy, destroying the pavilion, administrative building and changing rooms. A branded arsonist, he faced 25 years in prison with hard labor. Eighteen months after the crime, he was cleared in the trial on grounds of his psychiatric problems. He made his comeback in 2009 in the One Day International series against Bangladesh. Arson’s young gun!