Five strange reasons why players missed cricket matches
Sometimes, unfortunate injuries force the cricketers to miss some matches whereas sometimes, they are given a rest due to their heavy workload. However, there have been instances where cricketers missed matches for weird and absurd reasons.
The legendary fast bowler from England, Sydney Barnes, refused to participate in 1920-21 Ashes, just because the MCC declined Barnes' request of paying for his wife and child in the tour. Former West Indies batsman Jimmy Adams missed a whole series as he was hurt badly after he cut his hand with a butter knife accidentally. Similarly, former English cricketer, Ted Dexter missed the 1965-66 Ashes after his right leg got crushed by his own car. And then there's Chris Lewis who missed out on a match because of a sunstroke.
Here are the five cricketers who couldn't attend matches or series due to some extremely weird and bizarre reasons:
#5 Kidnapped
Billy Midwinter, who was eligible to play for either of England and Australia, got kidnapped by 'The Father' due to his own decisions. Billy Midwinter was kidnapped by WC Grace in 1878 after Billy chose to pad up for his adopted country instead of his home country.
The legendary all-rounder WG Grace was expecting Midwinter to play for his team, as Midwinter agreed to play for Grace's team when required. However, when the time came for the decision, he chose to play for the Aussies.
After Grace realized that his team was a player short, he furiously took a cab towards the visitors' dressing room and virtually kidnapped Billy Midwinter. Even though the promising all-rounder was finally seen in the field playing for Grace's team, he couldn't put off a good show, both with the bat and the ball; the only thing that happened was Billy missing the match for his adopted country.