November 2002 Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was found guilty of ball-tampering during the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare. Match referee Clive Lloyd said the umpires had reported the matter to him and there was agreement that Shoaib had changed the condition of the ball illegally.

May 2003 Akhtar was again caught in the act. This time he was handed a two-match ban for ball-tampering. The 'Rawalpindi Express' was reported to ICC match referee Gundappa Vishwanath after the one-day international against New Zealand in Dambulla. Third umpire Gamini Silva of Sri Lanka noticed him scratching the quarter seam of the ball on television replays and brought it to the attention of the match referee.

|