Ashish Nehra not the first

Mohandas Menon

Law 42.11 for Unfair play makes it clear that the umpires shall intervene and prevent players from causing damage to the pitch which may assist the bowlers of either side. Prior to 1947, there have been several instances of players damaging the pitch but the Law then was not clear on this issue.

It was only as per the 1947 MCC code the umpires were empowered to remove a batsman or bowler from field of play if they were found guilty of pitch tampering.

The first recorded instance came when Mark Whitaker, Cambridge University’s pace bowler, while playing against the New Zealanders in 1965, after being cautioned twice by umpire WE Phillipson, for running down the wicket, did it again, and was not allowed to bowl any further in the match. Likewise, during the 1965-66 season, MCC’s left-arm pace bowler Ian Jones was banned from bowling against New South Wales for a similar offence.

The only such instance before Nehra, in a Test match, came when New Zealand fast bowler Dick Motz against India at Christchurch in February 1968, was not allowed to bowl after bowling one over with the second new ball at the order of the umpires FR Goodall and RWR Shortt for running onto the wicket.

Motz by then had bowled 14 overs, after taking six wickets for 63 runs in 21 overs in the first innings.

Then in February 1977, India’s Sunil Gavaskar while opening the Indian bowling attack against England at the Wankhede Stadium, was almost sent off the field for running down the wicket at the batsman’s end! Luckily, Gavaskar, a part time bowler, was taken off by captain Bishan Bedi in the next over.

Pakistani captain and leggie Intikhab Alam while bowling against Queensland at Brisbane in 1972-73 was surprisingly ordered out of the attack by the umpires for damaging the wicket. Never in his first-class career spanning nearly 20 years he was ever banned for damaging the wicket.

Although for a different reason, Pakistani fast bowler Imran Khan was banned from bowling, after sending down too many short-pitched balls to the New Zealand batsmen at Karachi. M/s Shujauddin and Shakoor Rana were then the umpires in the Karachi Test in November 1976.