Not ‘cricket’s darkest hour’

In the post-war history of English cricket, there have been few more universally respected figures than John Lever, the Essex left-arm bowler. Modest, friendly and hard-working, he was regarded by both colleagues and cricket followers as the ideal professional. But when he made his debut for England during a tour of India in 1976, he found himself embroiled in the kind of ball-tampering row which brought the last Test to a farcical conclusion and plunged the sport of cricket into a major crisis.

Unaccustomed to the sweltering heat of Delhi, Lever came up with the unorthodox idea of attaching a number of gauze strips to his forehead to stop the sweat running into his eyes. Fixed in place by Vaseline, the gauze appeared to have a remarkable effect on Lever’s bowling, as he ripped through the Indian line-up by swinging the ball prodigiously. The Indians accused England of using underhand methods to achieve victory, with Lever all but labelled a cheat by Indian captain Bishen Bedi.