Strange reasons for missing a game

Powerful opener Aaron Finch on Sunday became the latest in a long line of cricketers forced to miss a match for reasons more peculiar than the all-too-common back complaint or side strain. 

While all of the kit bags of his Gujarat Lions teammates arrived safely at Wankhede Stadium for their Indian Premier League match against the Mumbai Indians,Finch's equipment never arrived from Rajkot.

Bereft of his bats, pads, gloves and shoes, the Victorian had to be replaced in the Gujarat XI by Jason Roy.

And while missing gear is one of the more bizarre explanations given for a player missing an important match in recent times, it fits right into the below collection of other strange reasons cricketers have missed games.

Kidnapping

The only cricketer to have played for both England and Australia in Tests against the other, Billy Midwinter found himself having choose between county and his adopted country on an English summer's day in 1878. Born in Gloucestershire, cricketing legend WG Grace was expecting the allrounder to front up for his county of birth in a game at The Oval. But Midwinter instead chose to play for the touring Australians against Middlesex at Lord's. Upon finding him absent at the south London venue, a furious Grace travelled to the other side of town, forcibly removed Midwinter and left his Ashes rivals a man short. For the record, Midwinter made 0 and 4 for Gloucestershire, but did manage to collect four wickets.

Not completing homework

On a tour Brad Haddin described as "memorable for all the wrong reasons", four Australian players were suspended for the third Test against India in Mohali for failing to complete a task for coach Mickey Arthur. In the wake of the tourists' humiliating innings defeat in the preceding Hyderabad Test, Arthur asked the entire squad to email, text or write suggestions of how they could improve. Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson failed to complete the task. Remarkably Watson, who flew home to Australia for the birth of his first child during the third Test, returned as captain in the final match of the Border-Gavaskar series when skipper Michael Clarke succumbed to a back complaint. It made little difference, as Australia were swept 4-0 by the hosts.

Attacked by dog

There's a slight caveat with this one from November 2006 as Matthew Hayden had already suffered a broken finger in a Sheffield Shield match earlier in the week. Taking a "leisurely run" in a bid to keep fit ahead of that summer's first Ashes Test, the Queenslander had injury added to injury when a dog attacked him on his run and opened a 5cm gash on his ankle.  "It was a vicious attack," Hayden told the Sunday Mail. "It just hasn't been my week." Hayden did recover in time to open the batting at the Gabba later that month as Australia reclaimed the urn with 5-0 series victory.

Gone fishing

A keen angler, Andrew Symonds took to the water early in the morning of what he thought was a rest day during a 2008 Australia-Bangladesh one-day international series in Darwin. But a team meeting was called while he was in pursuit of some barramundi and the allrounder was sent home for missing the compulsory gathering. It was the latest in a series of incidents – including one where he'd missed a 2005 ODI against the same opposition in Cardiff for being intoxicated – for the dreadlocked right-hander, who played his final match for Australia the following year.  

Run over by own car

Ted Dexter not only missed a game because of this incident, but it forced him out of the entire 1965-66 Ashes series. After his Jaguar ran out of petrol in London, the former England captain decided to push it to the nearest garage. But Dexter lost control of the car and got pinned to a factory gate by the vehicle, breaking his right leg in the process. He would only play two more Tests for England, both against Australia in 1968.

Hitting teammate with bat

In Shoaib Akhtar's defence, he'd meant to strike Shahid Afridi in a heated argument ahead of the 2007 World T20. But his new ball partner Mohammad Asif was caught in the cross-fire and copped the full force of the Rawalpindi Express' fury. An "agitated" Akhtar later explained how the swing, from which Asif only suffered a bruised thigh, was aimed at Afridi after the allrounder had insulted his family. The speedster was sent home and missed the rest of the tournament, as Pakistan put the drama behind them to make the final of the inaugural tournament, but were defeated in the decider by fierce rivals India.