
Cricket fans the world over have long debated the merits of Australian umpire Daryl Harper. But he didn’t endear himself to supporters of India maestro Sachin Tendulkar by giving Tendulkar out against Australia in a 1999-2000 series (home nations used to be umpired by hometown officials) in a most controversial manner. The Leg Before Wicket (LBW) rule benefits the fielding side if a batsman doesn’t offer a shot but rather deflects the ball using the leg and the umpire believes that the ball would have gone on to hit the wicket instead. The problem in this instance was that Tendulkar was actually ducking Glenn McGrath’s delivery, and the ball hit him far higher up; nevertheless, Harper gave the out. It quickly became known as Shoulder Before Wicket and caused a furor among the cricket community, with many believing that the umpire shouldn’t have given him out. Harper has since said that of all his umpiring decisions, “the one that I would like the world to forget is the Sachin one,” but he never apologized to the player. For his part, Tendulkar didn’t complain (he was also out for zero runs) as India crumbled to a heavy defeat.