Underarm bowling incident of 1981

touch the grass before coming to rest in his hands. (If

modern TV umpiring review had been in use, there was
sucient doubt to rule it not out.) Some commentators
believed that Chappell should have taken Sneddens 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 elder had cupped his
hands under the ball.
When New Zealand batted, they reached the nal over
still needing to score 15 runs to win the match. Trevor
Chappell bowled a good nal over, taking 2 wickets for 8
runs in the rst ve balls.
Australias Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to New Zealands
Brian McKechnie observed by keeper Rod Marsh and non-striker
Bruce Edgar

In the confusion before the nal ball was bowled, one of

the elders, Dennis Lillee, did not walk into place, meaning that the ball should have been a no-ball, because Australia had one too many elders outside the eld restricThe underarm bowling incident of 1981 took place on tion line.[4]
1 February 1981, when Australia played New Zealand
in a One Day International cricket match, the third of
ve such matches in the nal of the Benson & Hedges
World Series Cup, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[1] 2 Delivery and post-match reaction
With one ball of the nal over remaining, New Zealand
required a six to tie the match. To ensure that New
Zealand did not get the runs they needed, the Aus- New Zealand needed six runs to tie the match from the
tralian captain, Greg Chappell, instructed his bowler (and nal ball, with eight wickets down. Greg Chappell, the
younger brother), Trevor Chappell, to deliver the last ball Australian captain, instructed the bowler (his brother
underarm, along the ground. This action was legal at the Trevor) to bowl underarm in a bid to prevent the Numtime, but nevertheless seen as being against the spirit of ber 10 New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) from
getting under the delivery with sucient power and elcricketing fair play.
evation 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 Eng1 Events leading up to the delivery land), 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 t to
be captain at the time.[7][8] He had also been on the eld
through the majority of the match that had been played
in stiing 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 eld. 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 eld placings, Chappell spent several overs

The series was tied 11, with New Zealand having won
the rst match, and Australia the second. At the end
of the third match, the batsman at the non-strikers 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 outeld catch o 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 elders ngers to
1

REFERENCES

elding on the boundary because he felt overwhelmed by cause.[15]

the conditions and the pressure of the situation.
The incident was used to inspire an instant kiwi ad that
In accordance with protocol, both umpires were informed depicts a rematch in which exactly the same conditions
that the nal ball would be delivered underarm. It ended had arisen and Australia were again bowling the underup being rolled along the pitch. As the ball was being arm. However Brian McKechnie instead places his box
bowled, Ian Chappell (older brother of Greg and Trevor, in the way and subsequently hits a six o the deected ball
and a former Australian captain), who was commentating resulting in embarrassment for the Australian players.[16]
on the match, was heard to call out No, Greg, no, you New Zealand cricketer Warren Lees recounted the uncan't do that[9] in an instinctive reaction to the incident, derarm incident on New Zealands 20/20 current aairs
and he remained critical in a later newspaper article on show, on Thursday 17 February 2005. He said that after
the incident.
the aair there was a long silence in the dressing room,
Australia won the game. The New Zealand batsmen
walked o in disgust, McKechnie throwing his bat to the
ground in frustration. The New Zealand captain, Geo
Howarth, ran onto the eld 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 eld. 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.

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 rst
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 o the last delivery the outcome of the game was never in doubt, so it was positively
received by the crowd.

4 References
[1] Cricinfo scorecard of the match. Aus.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
[2] "Most overlooked century-maker victim of SSgA overhaul, Investment Magazine, 9 March 2009
[3] Wisden Cricketers Almanack 119th edition (1982)
[4] The Underarm Ball That Changed Cricket, Abhishek
Raghunath, Forbes India, 11 February 2011
[5] Top ten sporting cheats: 8. Greg Chappell. Sport. Virgin Media. Retrieved 12 July 2008. Cheating? It wasn't
against the rules but it certainly wasn't cricket.
[6] Knight, Ben (30 January 2004). Underarm incident was
a cry for help: Greg Chappell. ABC Local Radio: The
World Today. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybe0wXQHe0Q
[8] http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/
141691.html
[9] http://www.sportsaddaindia.com/

The following year, the Australians went on tour to New

30-years-of-trevor-chappels-infamous-underarm-delivery/
Zealand. There was a boisterous crowd of 43,000 at Eden
Park, Auckland for the 1st One Day International of the [10] The Underarm incident. Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Retrieved 29 October 2009.
tour. As Greg Chappell came out to bat, a crown green
bowls wood was rolled from the crowd on to the outeld [11] Rowney, Jo-Anne (13 July 2009). The line between
mimicking what had happened at the MCG the previous
gamesmanship and cheating. BBC Sport. Retrieved 29
October 2009.
year. That day Greg Chappell scored a century in a losing

[12] Swanton, Will (23 January 2006). 25 years along, Kiwi

bat sees funnier side of it. Cricket. The Age. Retrieved
27 June 2006.
[13] Underarm smell still lingers after Trevor Chappells delivery, Rod Nicholson, Herald Sun, Jan 30 2011
[14] Cricinfo Prole Trevor Chappell.
aus.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 23 January 2013.

Content-

[15] NEW ZEALAND v AUSTRALIA 198182 Wisden

Almanack 1983. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 23 January
2013.
[16] Underarm Cricket Australia vs New Zealand ***Rematch Alternate Ending ***". YouTube. Retrieved 23
January 2013.
[17] Cricinfo Picture. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 23 January
2013.

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