Corruption in cricket

Cricket's biggest match-fixing scandal was unearthed in 2000, when Hansie Cronje admitted he had accepted money to throw matches. Soon players from other countries were implicated, among them Mohammad Azharuddin and Saleem Malik. Since then, allegations of fixing - including the new phenomenon of spot-fixing - have cropped up sporadically, and it has been acknowledged that bookmakers and the underworld have been active in trying to influence cricket results and specific moments in play. In 2010, scandal reared its head again when three leading Pakistan players were questioned by Scotland Yard and suspended by the ICC over spot-fixing charges.

May 19, 2013: BCCI to regulate player agents | May 19, 2013: Players to be asked for agents' names

The spot-fixing case

In September 2010 the ICC suspended three Pakistan players - Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt - on allegations of what was later defined as spot-fixing. They were alleged to have carried out specific on-field actions, including bowling no-balls at pre-determined times, during the Lord's Test against England on the instance of a bookie. The three were later handed long bans by the ICC before the matter moved to the British Crown courts, where all three were convicted and sentenced to spells of detention.

Apr 23, 2013: Butt, Asif asked to admit fixing | Apr 23, 2013: Butt ready to begin rehabilitation process

New Zealand's captaincy controversy

Ross Taylor led New Zealand to their first Test victory over Sri Lanka in over a dozen years in December 2012, but he then stepped down from the captaincy, opted out of the tour of South Africa, and Brendon McCullum was appointed his successor. Taylor countered claims by New Zealand Cricket that he had refused to accept a two-way split of the captaincy with McCullum, and said the coach, Mike Hesson, had questioned his leadership and said he would ask the board to replace him.

Apr 23, 2013: McCullum drops plans of legal action after Parker apology | Apr 24, 2013: The apology episode

Security concerns

The attack on cricketers and match officials in Lahore in March 2009 brought into tragic and dramatic focus a trend that began in Sri Lanka in 1987, when New Zealand abandoned their tour after a car bomb in Colombo killed 100 people. Nine years later, Australia and West Indies refused to play their World Cup games in Sri Lanka citing danger from the ongoing civil war. Subsequent series to be affected include New Zealand's tour of Pakistan in 2002, Australia and West Indies' tours of Pakistan the same year (eventually played at neutral venues), South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka in 2006, which was truncated halfway, England's of India in November 2008, when the ODI series was cut short by the attacks in Mumbai, and India's proposed tour of Pakistan in 2009.

Apr 18, 2013: PCB asks to host World Cup qualifiers in 2018 | Apr 15, 2012: Bangladesh to tour Pakistan at month end

Australia crack the whip

In a surprise and unprecedented decision, Australia axed four players from a Test during the 2012-13 tour of India for 'breach of protocol'. The players - who included vice-captain Shane Watson - had failed to hand in a mid-tour assessment exercise sought by the team management. The decision met with mixed responses but near-universal shock - not least because Australia were 2-0 down with two Tests to go.

Mar 12, 2013: Episode 28: Shane Watson's homework | Mar 12, 2013: Punishment harsh, but needed - Pattinson