What's Your Excuse? Trivia Quiz

Answer: A sickening collision whilst Australia were fielding

Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene miscued a ball on the leg side, and it looped into the air. Aussie skipper Steve Waugh ran backwards at full throttle from square leg to try and catch the ball, and Jason "Dizzy" Gillespie hared in from the midwicket boundary to try and pouch the ball as well. Having seen the incident on video time and again, it is one of those horror stories waiting to happen - and with a sickening thud, it does just that. Waugh's nose was badly broken nose and Gillespie suffered a broken leg that would keep him out of the Australian side for the best part of a year.

A helicopter - "dark green and menacing" - landed on the outfield to pick up both injured players and fly them to a Colombo hospital. You could almost hear the Wagnerian music, and Robert Duvall standing on the beach and sniffing!

Answer: His patella (knee cap) shattered in his delivery stride

His Cricinfo biography notes state; "Spectators said the sound of his knee splitting was like a pistol shot."

Syd was a big, smiling brute of a fast bowler. He would come steaming in from the boundary at a hundred miles an our, and unleash the ball at a fearsome pace - but not always with the greatest of accuracy, especially in his younger days. I had the dubious distinction of facing him in a club match just as he was breaking into the Gloucestershire County team as a teenager. This huge lump of a bloke starts sprinting in at you and in a flurry of arms, legs and shoulders launches a hard ball at you from 20 yards at close to 100mph.

His first ball almost took gully's head off as it sped to the boundary for 4 wides - about 10 yards to my left. The next ball bounced close to his toes, took off, and passed over my head "at a height that would have cleared a double decker bus" according to the umpire. But he got the third ball right - and one of my stumps hit the wicketkeeper so hard that he had to walk back to the pavilion with me to receive treatment! He controlled things over time though, and went on to play 5 tests for England - and it was in the last of these that he received his horrific injury.

Answer: Broke his shoulder whilst rugby tackling a spectator

Alderman had to completely remodel his bowling action after the injury, turning himself into one of the world's most successful medium/ fast swing bowlers of the 1980s (taking 170 test wickets at an average of 27.15). He worked as a cricket commentator in Australia after he retired.

Answer: Fell off his chair

Legend has it that Derek Pringle was writing replies to the many "Congratulations" notes he'd received on his selection. At some stage, to alleviate his fatigue, he stretched his 6ft 4in (1.93m) frame. His chair collapsed underneath him, he injured his back and had to pull out of the match the next day. He has since denied that he was writing letters - but whatever he was actually doing, it's a very unfortunate way to miss your test debut!

He went on to win 30 test match caps for England, before becoming a cricket journalist. His father played for East Africa in the first World Cup in 1975, and Derek himself appeared as an extra in the Oscar winning film "Chariots of Fire".

Answer: Postman

The story goes that as Topley was trying to deliver a letter through a letterbox, the spring loaded flap trapped his hand and he had to seek medical advice - and subsequently missed a good portion of the new cricket season.

Answer: Collision with a speedboat

Titmus was vice captain of England on the 1967-68 tour of the West Indies, and had appeared in the first two tests of the series. Shortly before the Third test, in Barbados, Titmus caught his foot in the propeller of a speedboat whilst swimming, and lost four toes.

There was considerable doubt whether he'd ever play again - but within months, he was back playing county cricket for Middlesex, and took 111 wickets in the summer of 1968. He went on to play county cricket until his fiftieth year.

Answer: Trying to break into his house after snapping his key

Greig snapped the key in the lock of his own house. He borrowed a ladder from a neighbour trying to gain entry through an upstairs window, but fell 18 feet to the ground, breaking his ankle in the process. Ian Greig also broke his finger after being hit on it in a match. Whilst getting up from the X Ray, he cracked his head on the machine. He needed stitches to fix that.

It was former England star batsman Ted Dexter who got run over by his own car.

Answer: Playing touch rugby

In the hour leading up to the start of the 2nd Test at Edgbaston, the Aussies were warming up by playing touch rugby. McGrath tripped on a cricket ball on the outfield, sprained his ankle, and had to pull out of the game. England went on to amass over 400 on the first day against a McGrath-less Aussie attack, and eventually won one of the great Test matches in history by 2 runs.

Answer: He shaved his head

"The Sun" newspaper infamously called Lewis "The Prat Without A Hat" after he shaved his head, failed to wear any protection, and was laid low by sunstroke before the First Test of England's tour of the West Indies in 1994. An enigmatic player, who never truly lived up to his promise as an England all-rounder, Lewis played 32 Tests and 53 ODIs for England in the 1990s. He made a one match comeback for Surrey in a T20 match as a 40 year old in 2008.

Answer: He suffered all of three of these injuries in one day

Yes, of course it was all three - when you're having a bad day, a pair of unfortunate incidents is usually not enough. French's bad luck started when he was watching his colleagues practice in the nets. A helpful spectator threw a ball back, which caught French unawares and gave him a nasty bump on the head.

He was taken to hospital to get it checked out, and whilst walking into the hospital, got knocked over by a car. The subsequent check ups revealed there was nothing seriously amiss with the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper, so he was allowed to leave the consulting room.

As he got up from the chair, he gashed his head on a low level light fitting. Not a good day.