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Home / Sport

Cricket: Five contentious catches that changed cricket

NZ Herald
28 Dec, 2017 10:50 PM5 mins to read

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Greg Dyer's dismissal of Andrew Jones in 1987 is one of the most controversial catches in test cricket.

Greg Dyer's dismissal of Andrew Jones in 1987 is one of the most controversial catches in test cricket.

As England and Australia exchange barbs over the Usman Khawaja catch/no catch controversy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday, here's five other fielding controversies:

1: Andrew Jones/Greg Dyer, Melbourne Boxing Day 1987

New Zealand's No.3 batsman Jones, on 40, shaped to turn a ball from fast bowler Craig McDermott down the leg side. Australian wicketkeeper Dyer sprawled left, rolled over and came up claiming the catch.

Jones headed for the pavilion as the crowd roared. Then up came the replay. The press box, packed with Australians, fell silent for two seconds, then erupted.

The ball had clearly slipped from Dyer's glove and rolled along the grass before being reclaimed by the wicketkeeper. Dyer's career never recovered. He played two more tests that summer before being discarded.

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2: Don Bradman/Jack Ikin, Brisbane, November 1946

The legendary Bradman was unsure whether to carry on his test career when cricket resumed after the Second World War.

His health wasn't good but he decided to press on. In the first test of the 1946-47 series, Bradman got to 28 unconvincingly before edging a ball from fast bowler Bill Voce into the slips where it flew at chest height to second slip Ikin.

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There was little appeal as it seemed plainly out to the Englishmen. They only voiced the appeal when they realised Bradman had stood his ground and was staring into the distance. Umpire George Borwick eventually said not out, deeming the ball to have jammed into the grund before flying up to Ikin.

The radio commentator called it out immediately; Next man in, Keith Miller saw the incident and immediately stood up picking up his batting gloves. Bradman went on to 187, Australia won the test by an innings and 332 runs.

Bradman scored eight of his 29 test hundreds after that hugely contentious incident. ''A fine f...... way to stay a series,'' an angry English captain Wally Hammond said when the over ended.

Read more: Cook backs Khawaja on controversial catch

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3: Greg Chappell/Martin Snedden, Melbourne, February 1981

Among the most controversial days in New Zealand-Australia cricket history.

It was the third game in a best-of-five final series and ended in Trevor Chappell bowling the last ball down the pitch underarm to batsman Brian McKechnie to deny him a chance to hit a six to tie the match.

But earlier Greg Chappell lofted a ball high towards deep mid wicket. Martin Snedden ran foward and took a brilliant low catch. Chappell, completing a second run, stood his ground waiting for the umpires decision.

They said as they had been watching the batsmen ground their bats as they turned for a second run, they hadn't seen the catch taken cleanly and sided with the Australian skipper. Cue uproar, but that was just the start of a tumultuous day's cricket which remains vivid in cricket fans' memories 36 years later.

4: Sourav Ganguly/Michael Clarke, Sydney, January 2008

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In one of the most bitter tests of recent memory, the Indians were furious when Michael Clarke claimed a low catch off Brett Lee to dismiss Ganguly, who was on 51 and a chance to lead India to safety on the final day.

Replays showed Clarke had not taken the catch. Australia won by 122 runs late on the final day, but the test is best remembered for awful umpiring by West Indian Steve Bucknor and England's Mark Benson — with 12 decisions found to be wrong — the tension between the players and the ugly racism hurled at Australian Andrew Symonds by spinner Harbhajan Singh, who got a three-match ban later set aside after India threatened to go home.

Australia faced allegations of bad sportsmanship, India's admired captain Anil Kumble remarking after the match that ''only one team is playing in the spirit of the game''.

5: Rob Bailey/Viv Richards, Barbados April 1990

England had been left 356 to win but fell well short. Tall batsman Rob Bailey shaped to turn a ball from Curtly Ambrose to the leg side, it brushed his hip and was caught by wicketkeeper Jeff Dujon.

West Indies skipper Viv Richards launched into a running arm-waving celebration of the 'catch'. Umpire Lloyd Barker initially made no move to give Bailey out. But after Richards' performance, he raised a finger.

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England were 10 for two, tumbled to 191 and the match was lost by 164 runs. When Bailey, now a first-class umpire in England, returned to the dressing room he kicked the refrigerator and broke a toe. Barker denied he had been coerced into changing his mind — ''Viv appeals that way all the time'' — and Richards said ''when I do my little jig it is ceremonial, just a celebration''.

In The Guardian, former England bowler Mike Selvey called it a ''demented and intimidating charge'' by Richards. When Ambrose met Bailey later he put an arm round his shoulder: ''Rob man, you win some, you lose some. That's cricket.''

Bailey never played for England again.

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