TMS reveals fans' vote on Test cricket's biggest scandals

Test Match Special has revealed fans' vote on Test cricket's most notorious scandals. Readers were asked to rank ten incidents chosen by a TMS panel, with the supporters' order disclosed on the podcast. BBC Sport

The results were read out by Jonathan Agnew, Steven Finn and Andy Zaltzman. The discussion went out in the TMS podcast on 7 October 2026. It followed an earlier vote that opened to readers in late September.

The timing was deliberate. BBC Sport framed the poll around Australia playing their first Test in South Africa since the sandpapergate scandal eight years earlier. Test cricket is the five-day international format, where a single flashpoint can be argued about for decades.

One of the ten options was the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan. Australian umpire Darrel Hair asked for the ball to be changed during the afternoon session on the fourth day, amid a suggestion of ball-tampering. Pakistan refused to play after tea. The abandoned match was later awarded to England. BBC Sport

Another was England's 1987 Test against Pakistan. That game was stopped for more than 24 hours during a row involving England captain Mike Gatting and home umpire Shakoor Rana. Play eventually resumed, but the delay made it an immediate entry for any list of Test disruptions.

The panel also went back to the third Test of the 1975 Ashes at Headingley. The Ashes is the long-running Test series between England and Australia. That match was abandoned after the pitch was vandalised overnight by supporters of George Davis, with 'George Davis is innocent' written on the wall.

Off the field, the list included Kerry Packer's breakaway. Packer created World Series Cricket after failing to boost ratings on his Channel Nine television network with live cricket. He then recruited the best players in the world for his own matches.

What makes this stand out is the range. Some entries stopped play in a single afternoon. Others kept players off the field for a full day or reshaped how cricket was broadcast. For fans picking up the story now, that contrast is the fun of the debate.

The full ranking is set out in BBC Sport's results piece, titled "Test cricket's biggest scandals - your result revealed". The debate can also be heard in the 'TMS Top 10: Cricket scandals' audio episode of 7 October, in which the TMS team rank and discuss the incidents.