3 times a cricketer dealt with a pitch invader on his own
Pitch invaders or streakers running onto a cricket field has been nothing new but with so much security in the modern days, one doesn't expect these things to happen on a consistent basis.
In the last few years, we have seen a few pitch invaders running onto the field, especially in England. During India’s tour of England in 2021, a man identified as Jarvo had run onto the ground on atleast three occasions.
The latest instance was when a bunch of pitch invaders came out in protest just after the first over on the opening day of the ongoing Lord’s Test between England and Australia.
Soon after, James Anderson bowled the first over, a couple of ‘Just Stop Oil’ protestors ran onto the ground and scattered orange powder. They came running from the stands and caught the players off guard.
The security personnel wasn't really ready for such an act and it was the England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow who stepped in and carried one of the invaders on his shoulder while the rest of the ground staff took care of the other offender.
Bairstow then went to the dressing room to change his shirt as play was halted for 5-10 minutes. The Australians batted superbly under overcast conditions.
The English bowlers couldn’t quite take advantage of the helpful conditions as the visitors piled up 416.
England despite being in an advantageous position lost the grip of the match after conceding a 91-run lead. Australia then batted out the remainder of Day 3 to take the lead to 221 with eight wickets still in hand.
Coming back, let us have a look at three instances when a player dealt with a pitch invader on his own
# 1 When Greg Chappell assaulted a streaker with his bat
Back in the 1970s, streakers running onto the pitch was nothing new and the former Australian captain Greg Chappell had made a statement that he would deal with the invaders severely.
Back in 1977 during a Test series against New Zealand at the Eden Park in Auckland, streakers had made appearances twice before which had infuriated Chappell.
However, when the third streaker ran onto the pitch, Chappell lost all his control and chased him before smashing him on the back with his bat on a number of occasions.
That time Greg Chappell took on a pitch invader and gave him a batting lesson he probably hasn't had since being a kid.
Unfortunately he was run-out next ball. #jarvo69 #jarvo #EngvInd https://t.co/91js6JEyvu
The man who was identified as Bruce McCauley had sued Chappell unsuccessfully for assaulting him. The offender was later reprimanded for his action and fined NZ$25.
# 2 Andrew Symonds and his rendezvous with pitch-invaders
The late Andrew Symonds was an enigmatic character on the field and he had his incidents with streakers. One such incident happened back in 2008 during the Commonwealth Bank series featuring India Australia and Sri Lanka.
During one of the matches at the Gabba, one pitch invader ran naked onto the ground and started running towards Symonds who was at the non-striker’s end.
Sreesanth had to pull back from his run-up but unlike the commentator who stated that the streaker could be a problem for Symonds, he took him down rather quickly. The security personnel eventually carried him off the field.
@Andy_Lindahl In a cricket game here a few years ago one of the Australian players Andrew Symonds laid out a streaker https://t.co/9M8YhRALrw
In another instance way back in 1997, Symonds had given a lesson to a pitch invader who had tried to interrupt the proceedings during the domestic one-day cup final featuring Queensland and Western Australia.
An intruder charged onto the ground but soon regretted his actions. Symonds who was fielding ran full sprint towards the invader and knocked him down.
Andrew Symonds legendary chase streaker. https://t.co/1R9koxC1L9
The shirtless invader didn’t expect Symonds would tackle him hard. The camera eventually caught the man sneaking through a back entrance of the stadium.
# 3 When Sunil Gavaskar asked a female streaker to stay away from the pitch
It was during the twilight of Gavaskar’s career that he faced such a horrific incident. It was during India’s tour of England that a female streaker made an appearance during the Lord’s Test.
The female intruder ran onto the pitch naked with a banner stating “ Bring Back Botham”. The English all-rounder was suspended for smoking cannabis which prompted the streaker to come up with that banner.
In one of the photos of the match, Gavaskar can be clearly seen asking the invader to stay away from the pitch. He was more bothered about the playing conditions and didn’t want the pitch to be disturbed.