Sporting glory 2005: Cameras catch cricketers with their pants down

Rampant video technology had a major effect on cricketers' careers in 2005.

Just ask Pakistani Shahid Afridi, who was caught doing a nasty shuffle on the pitch during a test against England at Faisalabad last month.

Dancing with the Stars may be a favourite with viewers, but the watchers of Dancing With The Spikes weren't so impressed.

After an exploding gas canister created a distraction while England were batting, Afridi chose a good length at each end of the pitch for the illegal twists aimed at giving his bowlers assistance.

But the camera not only never lies, it never lies dormant. And Afridi was caught red-footed.

Bad luck fella. Players have been getting away with subtle pitch tampering for years, but Afridi was a goner with such tango-ible evidence available. He was suspended for two one-dayers and a test.

A film flop was the undoing of New Zealand medium-fast bowler Daryl Tuffey.

Tuffey had already blotted his copy book in a one-dayer against Australia at Eden Park in February, when he took 14 deliveries to complete the first over, conceding 16 runs in the process.

Tuffey hasn't been heard of since, apart from - that is - during an inquiry into his tangle with a digital camera in late 2004.

He was caught on the camera engaging in an act involving a sexual element, as the investigating lawyer put it, leading to a $1000 fine for serious misconduct just a couple of weeks after his Eden Park disaster.

The incident was largely forgotten and forgiven - the camera incident that is.

It's still hard to get the 14-ball over out of the mind - one of the longest and most painful international cricket suicide notes in history.

These head the strange but true sporting incidents in 2005, but there are plenty of others to choose from.

Heavyweight boxing descended even further downward by going upwards. Russian Nikolai Valuev, dubbed the Beast from the East, won the WBA title by using his 2.1 m tall frame to defeat John Ruiz in Berlin. The only other aspect worth reporting about this freak show is that Don King, who is also about 2m tall on a good hair day, is heavily involved.

In the "believe it when you see it category", talk also emerged that "Laydown" Sally Robbins, the Australia rower who quit on her team mid-race at the Athens Olympics, may be on the comeback trail with the Beijing Olympics in sight. Don't lay down any money on her making the Olympic team though.

And from the sad but true department ... there has been no redemption for Gazza. Paul Gascoigne, once an England soccer star, was dumped as manager of unheralded Kettering Town after his problems with alcoholism re-emerged.
The club's chairman reported having to deal with 37 separate incidents involving Gascoigne, who was in charge for 39 days. This is not a good incident-to-days ratio by any standards.

Gascoigne disputed being drunk before, during or after games or training, as was claimed. But he did admit to having a double brandy before a match.