New entry to cricket's list of bizarre off-field injuries

Cooper Connolly

The most recent addition to this unfortunate list, the WA young gun stumbled while out boating and hurt a toe on his right foot badly enough that it needed surgery the following day. The poorly timed injury ruled Connolly out of what would have been his Sheffield Shield debut

Glenn Maxwell

Fooling around at a 50th birthday party, Maxwell pretended to chase a friend and slipped on wet turf on a rainy evening. His friend fell awkwardly and landed on Maxwell's leg, shattering his fibula, chipping the tibia and rupturing all the ligaments around his ankle. The allrounder needed a metal plate put in it to hold it all together and he missed the entire 2022-23 summer.

Jonny Bairstow

The flame hair England keeper-batter slipped walking up a slope to a tee box while playing golf in Yorkshire and managed to snap his fibula in three places and dislocate his ankle in September 2022. It ruled him out of the T20 World Cup that England later won in Australia.

Brad Hodge

In Perth ahead of a T20 against the Kiwis in 2007, Victoria batter Brad Hoge went to get dressed into his team kit, but in the act of pulling on his trousers managed to twinge his back so badly he was ruled out of the game. That famously led to a frantic call to local lad Luke Pomersbach who was pulled from the car park to make a scarcely believable debut for Australia.

Shane Warne

The legendary leg-spinner was coming out of retirement to play for the Melbourne Stars for the inaugural season of the KFC BBL in late 2011, but things got off to a rough start. Ahead of a practice match Warne was rustling up a bacon sarnie at home but managed to burn his bowling hand, tweeting a picture of some badly blistered fingers. Thankfully it managed to heal in time for him to play in the season opener.

Matthew Hayden

Well known for his fanatical commitment to fitness, the big strapping Queenslander was out for a jog ahead of the 2006-07 season when a dog dashed out from a yard, nipping at his ankles, leaving a 5cm gash.

James Anderson

A pre-Ashes training camp to Germany in 2010 saw England put their pace spearhead in the boxing ring with Chris Tremlett. "It was 20 seconds of trying to whack the shit out of the other guy and I hit Jimmy pretty hard and cracked one of his ribs," Tremlett later said. "Jimmy was probably 25kgs lighter than me at the time. It wasn't the greatest idea." The injury didn't keep Anderson out of that summer's Ashes where he took 24 wickets en route to a series win.

Dane van Niekerk

The South African missed several matches of WBBL|05 in 2019 after slicing her hand having "tried to stab an avocado" and badly slicing her palm. Teammate Ellyse Perry responded by gifting her avocado themed shirt and trousers and a peeler.

Van Niekerk made a second entry onto this list in early 2022 when she fractured her ankle attempting to feed her dogs on the eve of that year's ODI World Cup which South Africa were hosting. "It was raining and I was on the wooden deck outside the house. I needed to go down to feed my dogs and I tried to climb down from the edge, and as I did that my feet gave way. I heard a snap. At that moment there were stairs just next to me but I wanted to climb down. When it rains do you do that?"

Jofra Archer

Already beset by elbow issues that had largely kept him sidelined since his starring 2019 home summer, the Barbados-born England quick raised eyebrows in March 2021 when it was revealed he needed surgery to remove glass from a tendon in his right hand. Admitting it sounded like a conspiracy, England director Ashley Giles tried to clear the air, revealing Archer had been attempting to clean a fish tank in his bathtub when he dropped it and it smashed back in January. The glass had become embedded in his hand, the resulting injury was managed through a tour of India before he successfully had surgery in March.

Shoaib Akthar

No mercy was shown by the Pakistan Cricket Board in mid-2009 when star quick Shoaib Akhtar was ruled out of that year's T20 World Cup, with officials announcing he was suffering from genital warts. Akthar had made a return to international cricket after a 14-month absence in January before suffering a knee injury, then struggled for form and fitness in an ODI series against the Aussies. The PCB, perhaps keen to avoid any controversy, opted for a literal take on the "warts and all" policy of honesty, even going so far as to say the fast bowler was undergoing electrofulguration treatment – a procedure where electrical current is used to destroy unwanted tissue – and needed 10 days to recover.

Quinton de Kock

South Africa's star keeper-batter was ruled out of a pivotal third Test against England in early 2016 after getting tangled up walking his two Jack Russell terriers, slipping and twisting his knee.

Jimmy Adams

The official story is the West Indies stalwart injured the tendon in his right hand attempting to cut open a crusty roll with a plastic knife on board a flight to South Africa for a 1998 tour. The oft-repeated rumour is Adams was injured breaking up an argument between teammates. Whatever the cause, Adams got off the plane, went straight to hospital before heading back to the airport for a flight home.

Tony Grieg

The 2m tall former England captain cricked his neck while leaning over the sink in his hotel bathroom, peering into a low mirror to shave, and missed a Test match.

Ian Greig

Tony's younger brother locked himself out of his home after the first day of a county championship match in 1983, tried to climb in through an open window but slipped, fell nearly six meters and broke his ankle

Glenn McGrath

Technically 'on' the field, but not in play, Australia's top quick famously stepped on a ball on the outfield of Edgbaston ahead of the start of the second Test in the 2005 Ashes series. Ricky Ponting won the toss, still opted to bowl, and England piled up 407 and narrowly won the Test by two runs