Before the March 2018 ball tempering scandal implicating skipper Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bankroft, Australia’s most infamous cricket controversy was the underarm bowling incident.
Its two protagonists were then Australian captain Greg Chappell and his brother, Trevor.
The underarm bowling incident took place on 1 February 1981. When Australia played New Zealand in an ODI cricket match, the third of five such matches in the final of The Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, at The Melbourne Cricket Ground. 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, instructed his bowler [and younger brother], Trevor Chappell to deliver the last ball to Brian McKechnie underarm, along the ground. This action was legal at the time, but nevertheless seen as being against the spirit of cricketing fair play.
The series was tied 1-1, New Zealand having won the first match, and Australia the second. At the end of the third match, the batsman at the non-strikers end New Zealand’s Bruce Edgar, was 102 not out, his innings has been called “The Most Overlooked Century Of All Time”.
This match had three other moments of controversy before the underarm incident.
Firstly, with Australia batting, New Zealand’s Martin Sneddon claimed a low outfield catch of a hit by Greg Chappell who was on 58. In his Television commentary on Channel Nine, former Australian captain Richie Benaud exclaimed “that is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life”. However Sneddon’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 a number of slow-motion replays of Sneddon’s catch from a number of different camera angles including a close-up of Sneddon’s diving to fairly claim the catch. After reviewing several TV replays, Benaud re- affirmed what he had initially seen live, stating in his commentary “there is no question in my mind that was a great catch, clearly caught above the ground, a superb catch”.
Australian TV viewers, watching the replays had divided opinions. Some thought it was a clean catch, while others said it passed through the fielder’s fingers to touch the grass before coming to rest in his hands.
The second controversy of the match, saw one out granted to bowler Trevor Chappell [lbw] by the umpire, dismissing New Zealand batsmen Richard Hadlee. When this was called, Channel Nine commentator Richie Benaud again took issue with the ruling of the Australian umpire, believing the ball to have pitched outside leg-stump and stating “I think that Richard Hadlee would justifiably feel a bit annoyed at that decision, particularly with all the troubles he’s had with getting and lbw when he bowled to batsman blocking the wickets.
A third controversy was that, in the confusion before the final ball was bowled, one of the Australian 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 restrictions line. The penalty would have resulted in one run being added to New Zealand score and an additional ball to be bowled.
This was the era where umpires for International matches were provided by the host nation. The two umpires for this match were Donald Weser and Peter Cronin of Australia. Neither man would ever officiate another International cricket match.
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. He had also been on the field through the majority of the match that had been played in stifling hot conditions.
Trevor Chappell, told The Daily Telegraph that the incident took a mental toll on him. I haven’t been able to shake-off what happened to me in 37 years. What I did has lived with me ever since, and it will be the same for Smith, Warner and Bancroft. They’ll have to live with what they’ve done forever.
Although both Chappell brothers have publicly stated their embarrassment, McKechnie bears no ill-will over the incident.
Greg Chappell said “All my frustrations boiled over on that day”.
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