Former Australian pacer John Hastings has opened up about the trauma he faced on social media after he bowled an 18-ball over in a World Championship of Legends 2025 (WTC 2025) clash between Australia Champions and Pakistan Champions in England last month.
In that WCL 2025 match, John Hastings had to bowl 18 balls, with only five being legal deliveries. The former Australian pacer conceded 20 runs in that costly over, and Pakistan went on to win the game by 10 wickets with more than 70 balls left against his side.
Anti-Corruption Unit questions John Hastings after WCL 2025 blunder against Pakistan Champions
Now, Hastings revealed that his costly over against Pakistan caught the attention of the Anti-Corruption Unit, who questioned him about the incident. He further revealed that it was a tough phase and that he was flooded with messages from fellow cricketers and fans on social media.
John Hastings said on the Willow Talk Podcast, “The anti-corruption guys came up to me and said, ‘Gee, you put us through a bit of hell last night.’ He said we had to have a look at it. You missed the pitch on one of your balls. I said, ‘Do you think I’ll be doing any sort of match-fixing or anything like that? He said, ‘No, but we don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve been doing for the last seven years.’ I said, ‘I’m not corrupt’.”
John Hastings flooded with 1.5 million messages following a costly over in the WCL 2025 game
The Aussie revealed that he had to delete his social media handles for the three days after receiving messages from 1.5 million regarding his 18-ball over in the World Championship of Legends 2025 game between Pakistan Champions and Australia Champions in Leicester.
Hastings further explained, “The Pakistan game-it’s hard to explain. I had so many text messages from all the cricket fraternity, but I had also deleted social media for three days straightaway when I came off the field after the Pakistan game. I didn’t want to deal with it.”
He signed off by saying, “It’s not funny, but it’s one of those you can’t explain when you’re actually bowling. It was hard to take, it was embarrassing, and it was horrendous. But I am back on social media. So, the 1.5 million people who messaged me on Instagram, I’ll reply to you when I can.”
John Hastings gets a “Retirement Party” after the disaster against Pakistan
After his suspicious 18-ball over against Pakistan, the former Australian pacer said that he was even given an “official retirement party” by his teammates. Despite that heavy loss, the Australia Champions side still managed to qualify for the WCL 2025 semifinals.
They faced South African champions led by AB de Villiers in the semifinals, but Hastings was left out of the playing XI. However, Australia fell short by just one run in the thriller, and South Africa eventually lifted their first-ever World Championship of Legends title, with AB de Villiers smashing a match-winning unbeaten hundred in the final against Pakistan Champions.