A look at 15 most bizarre cricket injuries outside the field that ruled players out of action

A look at 15 most bizarre cricket injuries outside the field that ruled players out of action

Despite not being a body-contact sport, cricket, too, is played hard. It involves athleticism (albeit to a lesser extent than some other sports), physical strength, rigorous training regimes et al. Quite naturally, a lot of times players get injured on field while playing. At the same time, there have been occasions when players have got injured in a bizarre fashion off the field and as a result missed a match or a series; the most recent case being that of South Africa’s wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock, who slipped and sprained his right knee at his home on the eve of third Test against England and was subsequently ruled out from the match.

As a result, Dane Vilas, set to play a Sunfoil Series match in Port Elizabeth, was called up as immediate replacement and had to make his way to Johannesburg. In fact, he was still in flight when the game took off. On this occasion, Chinmay Jawalekar looks at all such possible evil strokes of fortune from the world of cricket and lists down 15 players who met with bizarre accidents outside a cricket match and missed out on action on the field.

1.  Glenn McGrath: During Ashes 2005, Glenn McGrath led his team to a fine victory in the first Test at Lord’s, completing 500 Test wickets in the process. He could have helped his team retain the urn, but a freakish accident ahead of the Edgbaston Test changed the course of Ashes history. He accidentally stepped on a stray ball left on the outfield during a practice session and tore lateral ligaments in his right ankle. Result: England won an epic Test and went on to reclaim the Ashes.

2.  Tony Greig: The late Greig once cricked his neck a morning before a Test stooping to have a shave in a hotel bathroom mirror, which, unfortunately, had been positioned far too low for his 6’7” frame. He missed the match.

3.  Matthew Hayden: In 2006-07, one of Australia’s best openers Hayden met with a bizarre accident. Out of cricket due to a finger injury, Hayden would jog regularly to keep himself fit. Unfortunately, one day when he was on his routine jog, he was chased and bit by a local dog and had to be taken to hospital with a 5 cm gash in his ankle. The incident happened just before The Ashes.

4.  Jimmy Adams: Adams met with a freak injury during 1998 tour to South Africa that ruled him out of the tour. While trying to cut the bread through a knife while on an airplane, Adams ended up hurting the tendon in his right hand. At that particular moment, the tour was done and dusted for him. He came off the plane and went straight to the hospital.

5.  Ted Dexter: ’Lord’ Dexter once became a victim of a car accident. However, in this particular incident, the car was owned by Dexter himself. He was once pushing his Jaguar that had run out of petrol to the nearest garage when a freak thing happened. He lost control and the heavy car ended up pinning Dexter to a factory gate, breaking his right leg. He kept lying at the spot with blood pouring out of his leg while other drivers rushed by.

6.  Chris Lewis: Lewis who was so worried about the soaring Caribbean temperatures during the 1993-94 tour of West Indies that he had asked Devon Malcolm to shave his hair off. Unfortunately, he took field in the Antigua Test without sunscreen or a hat. He missed the next Test with sunstroke. A reputed tabloid dubbed him ‘The Prat without a Hat.’

7.  Fred Titmus: On a 1968 tour of the West Indies, Titmus was taking a dip in the sea in Barbados when he met with a bizarre accident. The off-spinner got too close to the propeller of a small boat and had four toes on his left foot sliced off. Titmus made a stunning comeback in the County Championship the following year, probably because the paltry £90 in compensation paid out by the MCC’s insurance policy was not good enough to sustain him.

8.  Arthur Dolphin: In 1921, Yorkshire were taking on Middlesex in a match at the Lord’s. The former lost the match by an innings, but they had worse in store. Their player Dolphin, who also played a Test for England (and became a famous umpire), was sitting on a chair in the dressing-room while the match was on. He tried to do something as innocuous as stretching his hand to reach out for his clothes. Unfortunately, he somehow managed to fall, break his wrist, and get ruled out for the rest of the season.

9.  Arthur Morton: The same year, Dolphin’s team-mate from that tragic game, Abe Waddington was giving Derbyshire’s Morton a ride on his new motorcycle one evening during a match between the two counties when they crashed. Waddington, the rider, escaped unhurt and resumed play on the next day. However, the pillion rider Morton broke ribs and was subsequently out of cricket for eight weeks.

10.  Ian Greig: In June 1983, Greig, younger brother of Tony, met with a bizarre accident. On arriving home after the first day of Sussex’s County Championship match against Kent, he could not get inside due to a problem with the lock. He decided to get in by climbing in through an open window, but fell 18 feet instead and broke an ankle. That was not all: four years later, while being X-rayed after being hit on the hand in his third match as Surrey captain, Ian banged his head on the machine and had to have two stitches.

11.  Trevor Franklin: In one of the most serious accidents, Franklin was run down by a motorised baggage trolley at Gatwick airport during the 1986 tour of England. He was out of the game for 18 months with multiple leg fractures and could never run at full speed again.

12.  Don Topley: Essex and Surrey cricketer Topley used to work as a postman during off season. Once, shortly before the start of a new season, he tried to post a letter through a door but the spring-loaded letterbox snapped back on his fingers, ruling him out of action.

13.  Derek Pringle: Derek Pringle was busy sorting out complimentary tickets for the 1982 Headingley Test when he leaned back on his chair, which collapsed, and fell on the ground with terrible pain between the shoulder blades. Unfortunately, it somehow got reported that he got injured while writing a letter…

14.  Chris Old: Yorkshire and England star Old once pulled out of a Test when he, well, sneezed and managed to crack a rib.

Special mention

15.  Bruce French: French is probably the king of all such tragedies. The England wicketkeeper was minding his own business during a net session in Lahore, when a spectator returning a ball struck him on the head. It gets worse. While waiting outside the hospital, French was hit by a car and required stitches. To compound matters, he then smacked his head of a light fitting as he got up to leave. On one of the tours, he was even bitten by a dog.

(A self-confessed cricket freak, Chinmay Jawalekar is senior writer with CricLife and CricketCountry. When not writing or following cricket, he loves to read, eat and sleep. He can be followed here @CricfreakTweets)