1876:Lillywhite’s Professional vs. Goulburn.
The play was stopped when half a dozen hares and a couple of Kangaroos chased around the pitch.
1892: Yorkshire-MCC
A runaway horse and cart stopped the match at Scarborough.
1898:Australia vs. England
Not a Noble way to get out!!!.MacLaren’s rearguard action was cut short when a fly hit him in the eye and was caught behind by Kelly of the bowling of Noble.
1918:Undercliffe vs. Lidget Green
Well, we had heard of rain and nature spoiling the pitch, but this time it was camel turn to wet the pitch, causing embarrassment for Undercliffe and were barred from hosting any tournament matches.
1930 Test
A sparrow was struck by a fielder’s throw. The crowd shouted to kill the bird to overcome the misery, the player made an attempt to kill the bird. But to the delirium of the people, the sparrow flew off.
1934:Sohar
In the summer of 1934, a ball from Sohar’s Birkat Ullah was hit in the sea and swallowed by a shark.
1936:MCC vs. Cambridge University
A sparrow was killed in a midway by a ball bowled by Jahangir Khan to T.N.Pearce.
1947:South Australia vs. Queensland
A cloud of grasshoppers stopped the play.
1948:Gloucestershire vs. Glamorgan
A flock of sheep invaded Ebbw Vale during the County Championship forcing play to stop for a while.
1951:Maharashtra vs. Marylebone Cricket Club
After several disruptions of the match by a monkey, the officials were forced to call someone to chase the monkey away. A boy came with a stick and chased the monkey away.
1952:Lord’s Test
Peter, the cat, was a popular cricket-watcher at Lord’s where he spent 12 of his 14 years – and his ninth life ended on this day. He lived at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from 1952 to 1964. His obituary said that “his sleek, black form could often be seen prowling on the field of play when the crowds were biggest”.Mr. SC Griffith, Secretary of MCC, said of him “he loved publicity and was a cat of great character” who frequently appeared on television. Although dere does not exist any pic of him but his successor, Sinbad, was snapped during a Southern Schools v The Rest match in 1963.
1953:Leicestershire vs. Worcestershire
Gerald Smithson’s drive killed a poor wagtail wandering at the boundary.
1961:England vs. Australia
A dog named Brutus interrupted the Headingley, Leeds Test(once again in 1962). It turned out to be a good omen for Englishmen as they won on both occasions.
1962:Oxfordshire vs. Worcestershire
The scenario became such a horrendous after the bees attack that player had to hide in the dressing room. Andrew Ward states, “In 1981, a cricket match in Bangalore was abandoned after thousands of bees disturbed by children throwing stones–swarmed across the field and took revenge. Six players and an umpire needed hospital treatment!”
1963:Southern schools vs. The Rest
A black cat walked and slept in front of non-striker oblivion to the match context.
1969:South Australia vs. Western Australia
A blessing in disguise for John Inverarity was bowled by Greg Chappell, but the ball had killed a swallow in the mid-flight (was deflected too), so John was called back by the umpire.
1971:India vs. England
On the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, local Indian supporters brought three-year-old elephant Bella from Chessington Zoo to parade around Oval outfield, at lunch interval.
1976:Tintwistle CC
The match was abandoned after horses dug up the pitch.
1982:Australia v Pakistan
Greg Chappell was going through a lean patch with plenty of ducks. A terrible thing happened when he came to bat, a Victorian brought a real duck and let it run on the ground.
1982:Warwickshire vs. Kent
Fox, perhaps a stray Leicestershire supporter, entered the ground during John Player League and ran behind Derek Underwood and disappeared in the crowds, it was summer of animal invasion.
1982:Surrey vs. Gloucestershire
A pigeon wriggles around Monte Lynch, forcing him to move away from crease just before the delivery of the ball.
1982:Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire
A rabbit invaded the Trent Bridge pitch and was later captured by Derbyshire Captain Barry Wood.
1984:Launceston Cricket Club vs. Old Suttonians
Camel, on their way from the circus, entered Launceston, and once again, the play was stopped for a while.
1986:Old Cliftonians Cricket Club vs. Stowe Templers
Fish Falling From the Sky ya, you read it correctly. Well, most of us have read Harry’s Penguin Stopped Play, but at Bristol, it was “Mackerel Stopped Play” when a colossal mackerel fell from the sky(dropped by seagull) and splattered all across.
1987:Young Sri Lanka vs. Young England.
An iguana stopped the play.
1987: Swardeston CC
Bull rampaged caused the unexpected halt in the opening match of the season at Norfolk.
1988:Lampeter CC vs. Bronwydd.
Once again, a swarm of bees stopped the play, at Lampeter.
1989:Mumbles Cricket Club vs. Skewen
The play was disrupted when stoats run across the 22 yards.
1989:Kentisbeare CC vs. Exmouth
A fascinating and rare thing happened at Kentisbeare when a cow swallowed the ball.
1990:Chard CC vs Sampford Arundel
A swarm of ants entered the pitch forcing the play to stop on a tremendous amount of time.
1996:Essex vs. Northamptonshire
A muntjac fawn appeared from parked covers forcing spectators to change their positions.
1999:India vs. Australia, ICC World Cup
Two pigeons met an untimely death, first was shot in mid-air by Aussie fast bowler Paul Reiffel in an attempt to run out. The second one died of thick edge of Ajay Jadeja at boundary. Paul Sheldon Surrey CC chief Executive remarked “The birds were last seen being carried away by a steward. We’d like to have given them a decent burial!” Something to cheer for Pigeons as Glenn Mcgrath bagged Man of the Match award.
1999: India vs. Australia Test
On the fourth day of MCG, test seagull interrupts Mark Waugh during his unbeaten innings of 51.
2000:Punjab vs. Tamil Nadu
The match was interrupted twice first on the opening day due to the snake. Then once again, on the final day after a swarm of bees stung spectators.
2000:Australia vs. West Indies
Brian Lara and Adam Gilchrist had to take shelter from a swarm of bees during the Adelaide Test.
2002:Hampshire vs. Leicestershire
A swarm of bees once again halted the play, but only briefly thanks to Mr. Honeyman bees were removed from Southampton.
2003:Somerset vs. Glamorgan
A colony of around 200 seagulls entered Cardiff after the tea, who knows might be for their own, and play was stopped for some time.
2005:Derbyshire Second XI vs. Leicestershire Second XI
Bull somehow managed to enter the park from nearby fields, causing chaos all around and break in the play.
2007:English v Sri Lanka Cricket Board President’s XI
There was a rumor that a snake was sitting underneath the advertising board. Englishmen refused to field at that location.
2007:Sri Lanka vs. England
The Test fondly remembered for Murali breaking Warne’s record, Sangakkara becoming the first batsman to score 150 in each of four consecutive Tests, Jayasuriya six fours in an over, had some other memorable(unfortunate )incident. A swarm of bees over the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy forced players to lay down. The play was halted for a while until the situation was in control.
2008: India vs. Australia Test
A swarm of bees hover over the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium during the India vs. Australia Test. The players lie on the ground to protect themselves from the unexpected bee attack.
2009:Mumbai Indians vs. Chennai Super Kings
An official attempts to catch a dog that interrupted the opening game of the 2009 Indian Premier League at Cape Town.
2009:Yorkshire vs. Lancashire
Jack Rudolph had the misfortune of accidentally killing a pigeon in a T20 match. The ball hit the pigeon in the midway on its way to the wicketkeeper.
2009:England Lions vs. Australians
A seagull swooped down and ripped off one bail dislodged by Lee(after dismissing Liam Plunkett).” The stray bail was picked up by a seagull which flew away before returning with the bail-in its beak to tease Lee who chased the bird around the field,” the Courier-Mail reported. The umpire had no option but to finish the remaining overs with new bails.
2009:ICC Champions Trophy – 1st semi-final, Australia v England
Champions Trophy semi-final was held up by a swarm of flying ants during the Aussies run chase, the run chase was delayed by these flying insects.
2010:Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers
A street dog interrupted Murali during the third edition of the Indian Premier League match in Chennai.
2011:India vs. West Indies
A dog turned out to be a good omen for India as they defeated the Caribbean nation in the World cup match.
2014:Bollington vs. Poynton
The Village cricket match was interrupted when a couple of porky entered the field at Cheshire.
2015:Melbourne Stars vs. Perth Scorchers
A seagull was struck by a pull stroke by Perth Scorchers batsman Adam Voges during the Big Bash League match in Melbourne. The thirty-three thousand-odd crowd was amazed to see the recovery of the bird after Rob Quiney kept the bird out of the field. “That’s a bigger recovery since Rick McCosker at the MCG in the Centenary Test,” Adam Gilchrist said in a commentary.
Captain Scott Invitation XI
The match was stopped by a pitch invasion of Penguins in the Hary Thompson “Penguin Stopped Play.”
Special appearance: Zebra at Lords in 2011.