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Getty Images / Australia's first Test tour of South Africa since the sandpapergate scandal begins on 9 October Australia are due to play their first Test in South Africa since the sandpapergate scandal rocked the cricketing world eight years ago. To mark one of the biggest controversies the game has ever seen, Test Match Special is asking which is Test cricket's biggest scandal. Ten of the most famous scandals in Test cricket have been picked out by a TMS panel and we are asking you to rank them in order of how big they were. Results of the vote will be revealed on the TMS podcast and you can read more about each scandal below the following vote. Bodyline Getty Images / Harold Larwood strikes Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield in the head with a bouncer during the third day of the the Third Test at the Adelaide Oval in 1933 On the 1932-33 tour of Australia, England needed a plan to stop the great Donald Bradman. Douglas Jardine, England's charismatic captain, came up with a tactic that would change the game forever: Bodyline. Jardine instructed his fast bowlers, Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, to bowl hostile, short-pitched deliveries at the Australians. In an era when batters wore no upper-body protection, England's method was criticised as unsporting and against the spirit of cricket. The bad blood between the two teams escalated to the administrators of the game in each country and even turned into a diplomatic incident, threatening to strain relationships between governments. England won the series 4-1, a result almost lost in the infamy of the entire episode. The D'Oliveira Affair Getty Images / Basil D'Oliveira played 44 Tests for England In 1968, England were due to tour South Africa, a country then operating under a system of racial segregation known as apartheid. In line for selection was Basil D'Oliveira, a mixed-race all-rounder born in South Africa, who had emigrated to and qualified to play for England. Despite scoring 158 in the final Test of the summer against Australia, D'Oliveira was initially left out of the England squad, only to then be called in as a replacement for the injured Tom Cartwright. His inclusion was criticised in South Africa and the tour was called off little more than a week later. South Africa played one more Test series – at home to Australia the following year – then spent two decades out of international cricket. In the intervening time, a number of rebel tours to South Africa took place, with huge consequences for the players involved. 'George Davis is innocent' Getty Images / Australia's Ian Chappell (left) and England captain Tony Greig examine the damaged Headingley wicket in 1975 Australia were defending the Ashes in England in 1975. The series was shortened to four Tests because of the inaugural men's World Cup earlier in the summer. At 1-0 down, England had a huge chance to level the series in the third Test at Headingley. At the close of the fourth day, Australia had reached 220-3 in pursuit of 445. A thrilling finish was in prospect. Overnight, the pitch was vandalised. Holes were dug and oil was poured on the surface. The damage was caused by supporters of George Davis, who had been jailed for armed robbery the previous year. "George Davis is innocent" was written on the wall around the ground. The Test was abandoned as a draw, meaning Australia retained the urn and ruining the prospect of a decider at The Oval. Davis was released in 1976 when his conviction was adjudged to be unsafe, and it was overturned entirely on appeal in 2011. World Series Cricket Getty Images / West Indies players sit on a balcony during World Series Cricket In the mid-1970s, Kerry Packer, one of the richest men in Australia, wanted to boost the ratings of his Channel Nine TV network with live sport. He approached the Australian Cricket Board with a lucrative offer, one that was rejected in favour of keeping live cricket on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. So, Packer created his own product: World Series Cricket. The plan was simple – Packer recruited the best players in the world to stage his own matches. Most significant was the signing of England captain Tony Greig, who effectively acted as an agent. Greig was stripped of the captaincy and Australia's 1977 Ashes tour of England was overshadowed by the emergence of Packer's outfit. World Series Cricket lasted for two seasons – 1977-78 and 1978-79 – comprising one-day matches and 'SuperTests' between teams representing Australia, West Indies and a World XI. Meanwhile, traditional cricket rolled on. In 1978-79, England embarked on Ashes tour they won 5-1, beating an Australia side decimated by Packer defections. Later in 1979, a truce between Packer and the board was brokered, and Nine earned TV rights to the game in Australia. Many of the innovations of WSC – coloured clothing and day-night cricket among them – shaped the game as we know it today. Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana Getty Images / Mike Gatting, centre, later said he regretted the Shakoor Rana incident England had already been frustrated by the decisions of a home umpire in losing the first Test on their tour of Pakistan in late 1987. Shakoor Rana was appointed to stand in the second Test, much to England's displeasure. Rana had previously clashed with New Zealand skipper Jeremy Coney. On the second day in Faisalabad, Rana was at square leg when he appeared to halt the game to object to one of England captain Mike Gatting's field placements. Gatting was furious, confronting the official in footage that has been replayed over and over. The following day, Rana refused to take the field, leaving England waiting in the middle for play that did not get under way. The match eventually resumed on the fourth day and the cancellation of the tour was narrowly avoided, but mistrust and ill-feeling between England and Pakistan lingered for years later. Dirt in the pocket In the mid-1990s, ball-tampering was the most emotive topic in Test cricket. In 1992, P

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  • 发布时间：2026/9/29 18:48:31