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who was connor williams: In the year 2001, during India’s tour of South Africa, a controversy erupted which not only pitted two great cricket boards face to face, but also left the career of Connor Williams, who was playing his first match, at a crossroads where his debut match remained merely a ‘paper game’.
Despite playing test matches, Connor Williams never got a test cap.
New Delhi. What would you say if the player who should have had cap number 240 goes to someone else after playing the match? In the world of Test cricket, getting a Test cap for a player is the proudest moment of his life, but there is a name recorded in the pages of history, who came on the field and opened for the country, faced the bowlers, but even today he is ‘uncapped’ in the record book of ICC, the supreme body of cricket. This unlucky batsman was India’s Connor Williams.
In 2001, a controversy broke out during India’s tour of South Africa, which not only pitted two great cricket boards against each other, but also left debutant Connor Williams’ career at a crossroads where his debut match remained just a ‘paper game’.
Stain on Sachin and dictatorial decision of Mike Dennis
This entire controversy started during the second Test match played between India and South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Match referee Mike Dennis launched an all-out attack on the Indian team during the game. He accused the great batsman Sachin Tendulkar of ‘ball tampering’ and suspended him for one match. Not only this, Dennis imposed different sanctions and fines on a total of 6 Indian players including captain Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Deep Dasgupta and Shiv Sundar Das for excessive appeal. This decision created a stir in the Indian camp and the entire cricket world.
BCCI rebellion and entry of Williams in place of Sehwag
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) considered this decision of Mike Dennis an attack on its sovereignty and the respect of the players. BCCI and South African Cricket Board (UCBSA) together demanded ICC to remove Mike Dennis from the third Test. ICC was not ready for this. The result was that both the boards refused to allow Mike Dennis to enter the stadium without ICC’s permission and appointed Dennis Bird as the match referee in his place. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag was banned for one match. The Indian team wanted to play him, but in view of the controversy, he was kept out of the playing eleven. In Sehwag’s absence, India fielded Shiv Sundar Das to open with Deep Dasgupta. On the other hand, South Africa gave a chance to its domestic cricket’s legendary batsman Connor Williams to make his Test debut in this match.
ICC’s tough stance made the match ‘invalid’
The ICC was extremely upset with the removal of its official referee Mike Dennis. He took a tough stand and made it clear that since this match was not played under ICC rules and its appointed officials, it cannot be given the status of an official Test. The ICC declared this third match played in Centurion as a ‘First-Class Match’. This one decision ruined the entire career of Connor Williams. He played in the match, faced international bowlers, but that match was not an official Test. After this, Williams never got a chance to join the Indian team. The result was that despite playing at the international level, his name is still not recorded as a Test cricketer in the official list of ICC. He became the unluckiest ‘uncapped’ player in history. The conflict that started between Sachin Tendulkar and Mike Dennis became the biggest misfortune in the career of this unknown batsman.
About the Author
I, Rajeev Mishra, am currently working as Associate Sports Editor at Network 18. In this role, I am responsible for digital sports content planning, editorial strategy and anchoring. Sports magazine…read more
