Top 5 incidents when cricket matches were interrupted due to spectators

Crowd violence is one of the most bizarre causes for a cricket match to be called off. There have been several incidents on the cricket pitch as a result of a disturbance started by the audience. While such situations are more likely to occur when the home team is losing.

There have been instances where concerns with the ground officials or crowd infighting provoked a riot. Let's take a look back at some memorable incidents of crowd violence that led a match to be abandoned or paused for an extended period of time.

Here are 5 incidents when cricket matches were interrupted due to spectators:

5. Surrey v Leeds, The Oval, 2007

(Source- Twitter)

In 2007, The Oval felt it would be a great idea to employ a guy costumed as a gigantic cigarette to advertise the recently implemented smoking ban. Aside from the reality that a large cigarette is more likely to encourage people to want to smoke than not, the only issue was the man's failure to follow cricketing decorum.

He kept wandering behind the bowler's arm, oblivious to the waving and gesticulating in his general direction because of the limits of the costume. The Surrey PA announcer was compelled to repeat the classic phrase: 'Would the cigarette please sit down.'

4. Pakistan vs England, Leeds, 2001

(Source- Twitter)

The 2001 NatWest tri-series between England, Australia, and Pakistan made headlines less for the game and more for the pitch invasions, which were common throughout the series. The worst of them, though, occurred during a round-robin match between Pakistan and England.

A steward was beaten up hard in an attempt to protect the stumps from the boisterous supporters and sustained many injuries. Because of the circumstances, England captain Alec Stewart made the hasty decision to forfeit the match to the opponents rather than take the field again.

3. England Vs Australia, Lord's, 2023 

(Source- Twitter)

In the second Test match of the Ashes series in Lord's, oil protestors attempted to sprinkle orange powder on the pitch, but were stopped by Jonny Bairstow, who got the better of one of the protestors. The England batter carried the intruder, who was yelling the whole time, onto his back and tossed him to the security at the square leg boundary like a sack of bananas.

The other protester was dealt with by England captain Ben Stokes and Australian opener David Warner, they were brought together for a brief period for the cause. Just cease Oil advocates, who want Britain to cease licensing and producing fossil fuels, were not quite as effective as supporters of George Davis, a London taxi driver who committed an armed bank robbery.

2. Australia Vs India, Brisbane, CB Series final 2008

(Source- Twitter)

The incident occurred at the Gabba in Brisbane during the second final of the CB series between Australia and India. After India had achieved a total of 258 runs thanks to Sachin Tendulkar's 91-run innings, Australia had a bad start, losing three wickets early.

However, when Australia were 34/3 and S Sreesanth was bowling, he came to a halt midway when a nude guy came racing onto the ground. The streaker evaded security but could not get past Symonds. The 46-year-old was at the non-striker's end and manhandled the streaker away with his elbow and shoulder. The streaker collapsed and was finally taken by security.

1. India Vs Sri Lanka, 1996, World Cup semi-final, Eden Gardens

(Source- Twitter)

The riot act by the Eden Gardens audience, more than the epic defeat of the batting line-up in the 1996 World Cup semi-final, made it one of the most embarrassing nights in Indian cricket history. India were the favourites to overcome Sri Lanka and reach their second World Cup final for the second time.

Sachin's removal made a batting collapse in which the Indians slipped from 98 for 2 to 120 for 8 in a handful of overs. At this point, the audience had had enough and determined that something needed to be done. They expressed their rage by tossing bottles on the field and setting fire to the seats on the stand. The situation was so worse that play was called off, and the match was given to Sri Lanka by default.