Top 3 Controversies Involving Australia Cricket Team

Australia is one of the greatest teams in the cricketing world, which has the most ICC trophies in ICC events, having one of the best players in their squad, which is one of the reasons they have dominated for a long period of time. But do you know, despite being regarded as the one of the best teams in international cricket, the Kangaroos have been one of the top teams who have been involved in several controversies in the cricketing world from time to time, whether it’s the Sandpaper, or the Legendary spinner Shane Warner’s drug controversy?

The Men in Yellow have always been in the top cricket news with all of these headlines, which violated the spirit of the game and many of these incidents were caught on camera and still serve as examples of the biggest controversies in cricket. Through this news piece, we are going to tell you about the top 3 controversies involving the Australian cricket team, which made every cricket fan shameful.

1. Michael Slater Stalking Controversy

Former Australian opener Michael Slater, who was known for his aggressive batting intent in the 90s from the Australian cricket team, where he used to come down at the crease against the fast bowlers, was caught in a huge controversy after his retirement in October 2021. When Michael Slater’s ex-partner Milanie Livesey alleged that the former cricketer had dropped her with messages and then even showed at their home in Sydney.

In response, she got to the cops and accused him of harassing her, for which Slater was arrested and charged with stalking.

2. Australia’s Ball-Tampering Scandal Of 2018

The Australian Ball-Tampering Scandal has been known as one of the biggest controversies involving the main players of the Australian cricket team, who were considered as one of the best players from the Men in Yellow Team for their incredible performance over the years. Despite the Test Series against South Africa in March 2018, the Australian captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, were involved in ball-tampering. 

Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper, to damage the ball. Upon further investigations, it came out that Steve Smith and David Warner were also involved in the planning of the incident. As a result, all three players were banned by Australia Cricket Board. Due to this shameful incident, star batters Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for one year, while Cameron Bancroft was banned for 9 months. Steve Smith was also banned from captaincy for the next two years, while, Warner was banned from captaincy for the rest of his career. 

3. Shane Warne Banned For Consuming Drugs in 2003

Despite being known as one of the best spinners in the world the former Australian legendary spinner was also famous for his controversies on the field with the players and umpires. Shane Warner represented the Australian team from 1992 to 2007 has played a total of 194 matches in One Day Internationals and 145 games in Test Cricket, where he has picked a total of 293 and 708 Test Wickets with an economy of 4.25 and 2.65, respectively.

However, the mighty leg spinner was banned for one year after consuming drugs during the ODI World Cup 2003. The former legendary Australian spinner Warner had travelled to South Africa to play ICC ODI World Cup 2003. Just Before Australia’s first match, Warner was tested positive for a banned positive

In response, Cricket Australia (CA) banned the Australian spinner for one year due to the incident. Warner had tested positive for drugs hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride- diuretics usually used to aid temporary weight loss. Due to the ban, Warner could not take part in World Cup 2003 and traveled back to Australia. Brad Hogg replaced him in the Australia squad.

Apart from these 3 major controversies, there were several controversies related to the top Australian players like Michael Clarke’s Wrong Catch to Dismiss Sourav Ganguly during India tour of Australia, 2008 or Steve Smith, who was criticized for using DRS in the wrong manner in India vs Australia Test in 2017.