Recent events on and off the pitch suggest Christmas card lists will be getting shorter, as Tim Ellis finds a few fallouts contrary to the spirit of the festive season...

Jonathan Trott and the Indian team
He scored the century that secured England's Test win over India, but Trott pushed the boundaries of gamesmanship during the series.

The Warwickshire batsman angered the hosts by hitting for four a ball that slipped out of the hand of spinner Ravi Jadeja and bobbled up the pitch.

Commentator Sunil Gavaskar also felt Trott breached the spirit of cricket for claiming he had caught Virat Kohli on the first day of the first Test, when television replays showed the ball had clearly dropped on the turf.

He also blew Ishant Sharma a kiss when given not out for a catch behind at Nagpur. As someone who has claimed he 'loves a bit of needle', Trott would probably give Santa Claus a four letter sledge in his grotto.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Daryl Harper - best of enemies
He may have more endorsements than Father Christmas, but Dhoni's open questioning of umpires Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena is just another example of a rather prickly streak. When Jonny Bairstow was given out in Mumbai via Gautam Gambhir's helmet, India's old foe Harper waded in.

"It is a clear breach of the laws of cricket, and any national captain worth his weight in salt - or any other condiment - would have immediately withdrawn the appeal and allowed Bairstow to continue his innings," said the former ICC umpire.

Harper announced his retirement following complaints from India about the quality of his umpiring in the first Test against West Indies in Jamaica in 2011. No love lost there, then.

The South African batsmen walking in a winter wonderland
The Australians got ever so annoyed with Graeme Smith's team at Brisbane during the first Test, when his batsmen constantly pulled away as the bowler was running in.

So, when Smith stood back at the last second because a bird flew across the pitch during the last day, James Pattinson lost patience.

The young Australian tyro delivered the ball anyway and then gave Smith a colourful spray, loosely based on the English language, prompting the opener to wave him away.

At least Ricky Ponting might send Smith something nice after the guard of honour he received at Perth on his final Test dismissal.

New Zealand Cricket puts Scrooge to shame
New Zealand Cricket has publicly apologised to Ross Taylor for the manner in which they handled the end of his reign as Test captain.

Taylor quit as skipper after being asked to hand over the ODI and T20I reins to wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum. Now McCullum has got all three formats. Santa came early.

Despite showing a meanness of spirit that is up there with Scrooge, New Zealand Cricket chairman Chris Moller said no heads would roll.

"There are no hanging offences in all of this," he said. Yes, the ball's been dropped, absolutely. Could we have done things better? Absolutely. Administrators administering themselves, eh?

Taylor has a batting average of almost 50 in his 13 Tests as captain.

Tony Greig says the spirit of cricket has gone missing in India
Greig delivered the MCC's annual Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's and blamed India for many of the game's current ills. The former England captain did not hold back on his reasoning when he spoke in the Long Room.

He said: "India's apparent indifference towards Test cricket and its response towards some of the key issues - the international calendar and the mix of the different types of cricket; its attitude to the earlier ICC corruption inquiries; its indifference to the urgency to introduce anti-doping rules; the rumoured corruption hanging over the IPL; its attitude to the Decision Review System; and its role in the lack of due process in stopping the former Australian prime minister John Howard being appointed vice-president of the ICC - are all examples of disappointing decisions."

Phew. Anything else to add to the list for New Year resolutions?

Michael Vaughan waltzes into mischief
Now that he has tripped and stumbled his way off Strictly Come Dancing, Vaughan did not waste any time in damning Alastair Cook with faint praise.

According to his Ashes majesty of 2005: "There were whispers from a few of the senior players that they didn't think Cook would be a good captain and able to talk to them like Andrew Strauss."

In the same way that you never talked to Jimmy Anderson, Michael?

Vaughan went on to say: "It is proof that changing the captain can be good for the team. As much as everyone was sad to see Strauss go, a team moves on quickly."

Indeed. Don't go looking to Vaughan for Christmas sentiment.

And C365's nomination for the spirit of cricket award: The official ICC award went elsewhere, but should have gone to Chris Gayle for not running out Eoin Morgan in the World Twenty 20 in September. Gayle played the tournament with a huge smile on his face and when Morgan wandered out of his crease, the Windies captain mimicked flicking off the bails in comedic fashion.

Tim Ellis