The Dark Side of Cricket

From apartheid South Africa to Bollywood financiers, the sport of cricket boasts a storied political history. Here's a look at some of the game's most controversial moments.

BY ANDREW SWIFT | MAY 14, 2010

Sins of omission: During the 2010 Indian Premier League auction this January, one thing was conspicuously absent: the selection of a single Pakistani. Making the omission even more suspicious, most of the members of Pakistan's champion World Twenty20 team -- a variant of cricket, in which matches only take a few hours long instead of the customary five days -- were available, yet still none were chosen. The reaction in Pakistan was immediate -- the interior minister deemed absence of Pakistani players a broad insult, claiming it was proof that India was not interested in peace. The Times of India called the episode shameful, while Pakistani columnists denounced the fiasco as "patently cruel" and a "spiteful act."In this photo, Pakistani cricketers greet one another during the ICC World Twenty20 second semifinal match on May 14.

AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images

 

Andrew Swift is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

ROBIN1

2:08 AM ET

May 15, 2010

Superb information that you

Superb information that you have shared. I would get advantage from this great information. I always like cheap offers whether they are for study, travel and other informational matters. I have much earn from it and spend it Others. But i am sure this will really helpful for new ones.

 

MEHRO

12:48 AM ET

May 16, 2010

'With the 2010 Cricket World

'With the 2010 Cricket World Cup beginning this week, here's a look at some of the game's most controversial moments.'

The what?? I really like this website but this poor stuff? Exactly which cricket world cup is starting this week? The T20 world cup is ending this week, not starting. And the Cricket World Cup is actually next year.

 

MYSTIKIEL

7:14 PM ET

May 16, 2010

And the two cricketers certainly aren't "greeting each other"

Rather Shazaib Hasan is congratulating another player on scoring a half-century or some other notable feat. Surely there must be one civilised person on the FP staff that knows their bat-pad from their silly square leg?

 

NOUREDDINE

9:51 AM ET

May 16, 2010

I've been pretty awe struck

I've been pretty awe struck by the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes just in the first half of 2010. Find it hard to believe that it's just an average year. Vander, online printing reviews expo.

 

NOUREDDINE

9:52 AM ET

May 16, 2010

I've been pretty awe struck

I've been pretty awe struck by the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes just in the first half of 2010. Find it hard to believe that it's just an average year. Vander, online printing reviews expo.
???????

 

AUSTRALIANREADER

9:39 PM ET

May 16, 2010

Really?

I an article that promises 'cricket's most controversial moments' there is no mention of Hansie Cronje, Salim Malik? Not a single mention of match fixing? I would think the headline should be changed to something like 'When politics meets cricket'.

 

MALA

1:08 AM ET

May 18, 2010

That's the reality.

This is the reality of cricket. We cannot do anything about it.

 

BUNDA

6:03 PM ET

May 18, 2010

Truth is hard

That's the truth. Well written post. world best news headlines.

 

HUGH

4:02 PM ET

May 19, 2010

George Bernard Shaw best

George Bernard Shaw best captured cricket when he said "The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity. "

 

MAJA007

3:32 PM ET

May 24, 2010

Ill conceived article

A decade worth of cricket scandals covered in a single article. What was your point anyways? Yes, cricket suffers from corruption, and is affected by terrorism. You also got your facts wrong (as somebody mentioned T20 world cup is long over, and ODI world cup is next year).

I was hoping for an article on the corruption of the game itself. From being a truly artistic game to the hit-hit bang-bang version that is played now. It is almost as if..... (hold you breath)...........it is becoming baseball.

 

BANDA1

11:38 PM ET

May 25, 2010

Banda1

I agree with the above quoted incidents are the dark side of cricket but you omitted another incident. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakara after loosing T20 final chose to address his fans in Sinhalese instead of English. There are many Tamil/Muslim Sri Lankan fans who cannot comprehend Sinhalese. Kumar is arguably the best English orator to come from the Sri Lankan cricket world. Even Sanath whose fluency in the language is very limited always spoke in English. Cricket is supposed to be a unifier of a nation and its people and Kumar had an opportunity to rise to the occasion but as a petty minded individual he chose to play politics. A person with that caliber is not born to lead as his track record has begun to reveal - Punjab and the current SL team

 

DEANNE SOSA

1:13 AM ET

June 13, 2010

Is Cricket Better Than Football?

Cricket is all about adding to your own tally how many runs can you score, how may wickets can you take but you are always fulfilling your role within a team. In football, anyone can score, anyone can make the mistake that loses the game, and yet everyone thinks that they are the greatest player ever to don boots and the only one who can win the match. Being a cricketer means shelving personal ambition for the sake of the team; being a footballer means loving yourself more than you could ever be loved by another. printer toners and cartridges Football is full of them, the players whose every mistake was someone else’s fault. Footballers would rather whine and pout until someone buys them another sportscar than do anything remotely introspective or exhibit an ounce of self-awareness.

Cricket fans know that you don’t need to trumpet your nationality. If you are in England, logic dictates that you are likely to be an England fan. hp deskjet printer ink If you support someone else, then you need to fly the flag and tell people who you support. Flying an England flag in England just tells us that your hmm are undersized and that your job description includes the words “Do you want fries with that?”.