Bodyline - 1932-33
The strategy was designed to curb Don Bradman's scoring but it nearly stopped the Ashes entirely.
Douglas Jardine told his bowlers to bowl short and fast at the Australians in the hope of enticing a jerky jab to a cordon of in-close fielders on the leg side.
Tempers frayed in the third Test in Adelaide when Bert Oldfield was hit in the head by the lightning-fast Harold Larwood. Captain Bill Woodfull was also struck.
The Poms were accused of unsporting behaviour by Australian fans and the then Australian Board of Control for Cricket.
An angry Jardine threatened to boycott the fourth and fifth Tests if it was not retracted.
It took then Prime Minister Joseph Lyons to warn of the possible ramifications on Anglo-Australian trade before peace was restored.
Bradman averaged 56 - mediocre by his standards - and England won the series 4-1.
John Snow (1971)
This row was sparked when another Australian batsman was hit in the head by an English paceman, infuriating the SCG crowd.
After flooring Terry Jenner with bouncer, Snow baited the crowd by fielding right on the fence rather than his normal position 20 metres inside.
A well-lagered spectator grabbed Snow by the arm, initially with no aggression.
Snow tried to pull away but the fan hung on and an incident ensued.
The crowd hurled bottles and cans, some half empty or full depending on your view of life, onto the field.
England captain Ray Illingworth led his team off the field and returned only when told they risked forfeiting the match if they did not.
Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh (1981)
Long before gambling on cricket became a serious issue, Lillee and Marsh created their own betting controversy.
In so much trouble was England in the third Test of 1981, bookies offered 500-1 for an English victory.
After seeing such ridiculous odds for a three-horse race flash up on the scoreboard, Lillee and Marsh laid a small wager.
Ian Botham smashed a famous century, Bob Willis destroyed Australia's batsmen and Lillee and Marsh won 7500 pounds.
There was no suggestion of anything sinister but it's just as well it happened then not now.
Gary Pratt (2005)
Pratt was a modestly performed first-class batsman who scored one ton and never took a wicket in a 53-game career. But he was one unbelievable fielder.
That's why England had him on call as a 12th man in Trent Bridge in 2005.
An injury to Simon Jones saw Pratt take to the field. And didn't he have an impact!
His deadly arm saw Ricky Ponting run out at a crucial stage of Australia's second innings.
Ponting, who earlier in the series had aired his grievances about England using substitutes to give their pacemen a rest, could not contain his rage, spewing out a torrent of abuse as he left the field. It cost Ponting three quarters of his match fee.
Pratt was rewarded with an invite onto England's bus for ticket-tape street parade.
Terry Alderman (1982)
Befitting a man who smiled when he bowled, Alderman was of gentle pace but could swing the ball. Ask Graham Gooch.
But Alderman had nothing to smile about for a while after tackling a pitch invader in Perth who had slapped him on the head during the first Test in 1982.
He dislocated his shoulder in the incident and had to wait nearly 16 months before playing his next Test.