Underarm bowling incident of 1981

Australia's Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to New Zealand's Brian McKechnie observed by keeper Rod Marsh and non-striker Bruce Edgar

The underarm bowling incident of 1981 took place on 1 February 1981, when Australia played New Zealand in a One Day International cricket match, the third of five such matches in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[1] With one ball of the final over remaining, New Zealand required a six to tie the match. To ensure that New Zealand did not get the runs they needed, the Australian captain, Greg Chappell, instructed his bowler (and younger brother), Trevor Chappell, to deliver the last ball underarm, along the ground. This action was legal at the time, but nevertheless seen as being against the spirit of cricketing fair play.

Events leading up to the delivery

The series was tied 1–1, with New Zealand having won the first match, and Australia the second. At the end of the third match, the batsman at the non-striker's end, Bruce Edgar, was on 102 not out, and his innings has been called "the most overlooked century of all time".^[2]

The match had already had a moment of controversy earlier. During the Australian innings, Martin Snedden claimed a low outfield catch off the batting of Greg Chappell when Chappell was on 58.^[3] It was ruled not out by the umpires. It was some years before TV replays could be used in umpiring decisions. Viewers watching replays had divided opinions: some thought it was a clean catch, while others say it passed through the fielder's fingers to touch the grass before coming to rest in his hands. (If modern TV umpiring review had been in use, there was sufficient doubt to rule it not out.) Some commentators believed that Chappell should have taken Snedden's word that the catch was good, as had been a time honoured tradition. Chappell maintained he was not sure about the catch and was within his rights to wait for the umpires to rule. Chappell went on to score 90, before he was caught by Bruce Edgar in similar fashion. This time, Chappell walked after he clearly saw the fielder had cupped his hands under the ball.

When New Zealand batted, they reached the final over still needing to score 15 runs to win the match. Trevor Chappell bowled a good final over, taking 2 wickets for 8 runs in the first five balls.

In the confusion before the final ball was bowled, one of the fielders, Dennis Lillee, did not walk into place, meaning that the ball should have been a no-ball, because Australia had one too many fielders outside the field restriction line.^[4]

Delivery and post-match reaction

New Zealand needed six runs to tie the match from the final ball, with eight wickets down. Greg Chappell, the Australian captain, instructed the bowler (his brother Trevor) to bowl underarm in a bid to prevent the Number 10 New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) from getting under the delivery with sufficient power and elevation to hit a six. Bowling underarm was within the laws of cricket at the time (though against the rules of the Benson and Hedges County Cup Tournament in England), but perceived as unsportsmanlike.^[5][6]

In later years, Greg Chappell admitted that he had been exhausted and stressed after a demanding season of cricket and that, in hindsight, he was not mentally fit to be captain at the time.^[7][8] He had also been on the field through the majority of the match that had been played in stifling hot conditions. At the 40 over mark of the New Zealand innings, Chappell (who had scored 90 in the Australian innings and then bowled 10 overs to the New Zealanders) told wicketkeeper Rod Marsh that he wanted to leave the field. Marsh, who described Chappell as being physically spent and exhausted, said that wasn't possible and that Chappell had no choice but to see out the match. Despite being captain and arranging bowling changes and field placings, Chappell spent several overs fielding on the boundary because he felt overwhelmed by the conditions and the pressure of the situation.

In accordance with protocol, both umpires were informed that the final ball would be delivered underarm. It ended up being rolled along the pitch. As the ball was being bowled, Ian Chappell (older brother of Greg and Trevor, and a former Australian captain), who was commentating on the match, was heard to call out "No, Greg, no, you can't do that"^[9] in an instinctive reaction to the incident, and he remained critical in a later newspaper article on the incident.

Australia won the game. The New Zealand batsmen walked off in disgust, McKechnie throwing his bat to the ground in frustration. The New Zealand captain, Geoff Howarth, ran onto the field to plead with the umpires. Howarth believed underarm bowling to be illegal, as per the rules in the English tournaments.

After the incident, the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Robert Muldoon, described it as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket",^[10] going on to say that "it was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow".^[11] Even the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, called the act "contrary to the traditions of the game."^[10]

Commentating for Channel 9 at the time, former Australian captain Richie Benaud described the act as "disgraceful" and said it was "one of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field." According to Benaud, Greg Chappell "got his sums wrong" and instead of using Dennis Lillee for the last over, he was forced to use his brother Trevor, a considerably less talented bowler. (In limited-overs cricket, a bowler can only bowl 10 out of 50 overs in an innings, and in this match, Lillee had already bowled his maximum number of allotted overs.)

Although both Chappell brothers have publicly stated their embarrassment, McKechnie bears no ill will over the incident.^[12] Greg Chappell says "All my frustrations boiled over on that day", while Trevor Chappell is reluctant to talk about it.^[13] Trevor Chappell remains best remembered for the "Underarm '81" incident.^[14]

Legacy

As a direct result of the incident, underarm bowling was banned in limited overs cricket by the International Cricket Council as "not within the spirit of the game."

The following year, the Australians went on tour to New Zealand. There was a boisterous crowd of 43,000 at Eden Park, Auckland for the 1st One Day International of the tour. As Greg Chappell came out to bat, a crown green bowls wood was rolled from the crowd on to the outfield mimicking what had happened at the MCG the previous year. That day Greg Chappell scored a century in a losing cause.^[15]

The incident was used to inspire an instant kiwi ad that depicts a rematch in which exactly the same conditions had arisen and Australia were again bowling the underarm. However Brian McKechnie instead places his box in the way and subsequently hits a six off the deflected ball resulting in embarrassment for the Australian players.^[16]

New Zealand cricketer Warren Lees recounted the underarm incident on New Zealand's 20/20 current affairs show, on Thursday 17 February 2005. He said that after the affair there was a long silence in the dressing room, which was broken suddenly and unexpectedly by fellow player Mark Burgess smashing a tea cup.

Also on 17 February 2005, over 24 years after the original underarm delivery, Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath light-heartedly revisited the incident in the first ever Twenty20 international, played between Australia and New Zealand. In the last over of the match, a grinning McGrath mimed an underarm delivery to Kyle Mills, which prompted New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden to produce a mock red card.^[17] As New Zealand needed more than 44 runs to win off the last delivery the outcome of the game was never in doubt, so it was positively received by the crowd.

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