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Underarm bowling incident of 1981

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1981 cricket controversy

Australia's Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to New Zealand's Brian McKechnie while being observed by keeper Rod Marsh and non-striker Bruce Edgar<br>The underarm bowling incident of 1981 is a sporting controversy that took place on 1 February 1981, when Australia played New Zealand in a One Day International cricket match, the third in the best-of-five final of the 1980–81 World Series Cup, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[1]

With one ball of the final over remaining in the match, New Zealand required a six to tie the match. To ensure that New Zealand were unable to achieve this, the Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his bowler (and younger brother) Trevor Chappell to deliver the last ball to batsman Brian McKechnie underarm along the ground. Trevor did so, forcing McKechnie to play the ball defensively, meaning Australia won. This action, although legal at the time, was nevertheless widely perceived as being wholly against the traditional spirit of cricketing fair play.

The outrage caused by the incident eventually led to an official amendment to the international laws of cricket to prevent it from occurring again.

Events leading up to the delivery<br>[edit]

The series was tied 1–1, New Zealand having won the first match and Australia the second. The two umpires for this match were Donald Weser and Peter Cronin, both Australian.

The third match had already seen another moment of controversy, also involving Greg Chappell: with Australia batting, New Zealand's Martin Snedden claimed a low outfield catch off a hit by Greg Chappell when Chappell was on 58.[2] In his live television commentary on Australia's Channel Nine, former Australian cricket captain Richie Benaud exclaimed: "That is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life". However, Snedden's catch was ruled not out by the umpires. This was some years before TV replays could be used in umpiring decisions; the Channel Nine broadcast did show viewers slow-motion replays of Snedden's catch from various camera angles, including a close-up of Snedden diving to fairly claim the catch. After reviewing several TV replays, Benaud re-affirmed what he had initially seen live, saying: "There is no question in my mind that that was a great catch – clearly caught above the ground, a superb catch."[3]

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 a similar fashion. This time, Chappell walked after he clearly saw the fielder had cupped his hands under the ball.

Lillee had bowled the penultimate over to complete his allocated 10 overs with his final involvement being the dismissal of John Parker, caught inside the circle by Trevor. Commentator Richie Benaud's post-game commentary accused Greg Chappell of having "got his sums wrong" by not having Lillee, his best bowler, take the final over. Graeme Beard was the other bowler involved in the mix-up, closing out his allocated 10 in the 43rd and 45th overs after a players meeting involving Greg Chappell, Lillee, Kim Hughes and Rod Marsh was unable to count the overs out correctly using hand calculations.

Trevor then bowled the final over (his 10th of the innings) with New Zealand requiring 15 to win.

Bruce Edgar, who was on 102 not out, was stuck at the non-striker's end the entire over. His innings has been called "the most overlooked century of all time".[4]

The first five balls of the over produced a 4, the dismissal of Hadlee via a plumb LBW, 2, 2 and Ian Smith dismissed bowled trying to heave the ball to the outfield. This left New Zealand requiring 7 to win, or 6 to tie off the final ball.[1] In the event of a tie, under rules at the time of the game, the match would have been replayed;[5] incidentally, this later occurred in the finals of the 1983–84 Australian Tri-Series.

The delivery<br>[edit]

New Zealand needed 6 runs to tie the match from the final ball, with eight wickets down. Greg Chappell, the Australian captain, instructed the bowler (his younger 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 (although specifically against the rules in certain one-day competitions around the world, such as the Benson & Hedges Cup tournament in England), but was universally considered as archaic, uncompetitive, and not a bowling...