Sweet Cheats & Phone Beats: The Stuff Cricketers REALLY Carry

Cricket is a sport full of tradition, but it's the eccentric, occasionally bizarre stuff in players' pockets that's often the surprise attraction. Whether it's the sandpaper debacle, lucky chocolates or even the occasional mobile phone falling onto the pitch, this stuff has joined cricket folklore.

Last year, Tom Bailey was in the news when his mobile phone slipped out of his trousers while playing a game, joining a long list of cricketers found with items in strange places on the pitch. The history of the sport is filled with similar tales, ranging from sweets being hidden to moisten mouths during extended periods in the field, to the infamous sandpaper saga that shook Australian cricket and resulted in suspensions for some of the sport's biggest names.

Superstitions also play a big role. Steve Waugh's battered red handkerchief, Sachin Tendulkar's ritual of putting on his left pad first, and Neil McKenzie's fixation with taping toilet seats down and positioning bats are just a few of the ways cricketers attempt to sway fate their way. These quirk and quirks, for good luck or merely for comfort, are as much a part of the game as wickets and runs.

These tales remind us that beneath the pressure and professionalism, cricketers are as likely to have quirks and accidents as anyone else-sometimes with a mobile phone in their pocket, sometimes with a lucky sweet, and sometimes, something much more contentious.

Sources: The Spin (Guardian), Keith Prowse, Times of India