The underarm bowling incident of 1981 is a sporting controversy that took place on 1 February 1981, when
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
played
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
in a
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
match, the third in the best-of-five final of the
1980–81 World Series Cup, at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
.
With one ball of the final
over remaining in the match, New Zealand required a
six
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...
to tie the match. To ensure that New Zealand were unable to achieve this, the Australian captain
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminent ...
instructed his bowler (and younger brother)
Trevor Chappell
Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Shi ...
to deliver the last ball to batsman
Brian McKechnie underarm
The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm and ...
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
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
Peter Michael Cronin (born 21 December 1947) is a former Australian Test cricket match umpire, from South Australia.
Umpiring career
Cronin was one of two Australian on-field umpires in the Underarm bowling incident of 1981.
He umpired in one ...
, 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. In his live television commentary on Australia's
Channel Nine, former Australian cricket captain
Richie Benaud
Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...
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."
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
Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...
'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
Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of ...
and
Rod Marsh
Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 ...
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
In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at ...
, was stuck at the non-striker's end the entire over. His innings has been called "the most overlooked century of all time".
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.
In the event of a tie, under rules at the time of the game, the match would have been replayed; incidentally, this later occurred in the finals of the
1983–84 Australian Tri-Series
The 1983–84 World Series was a One Day International (ODI) cricket tri-series where Australia played host to Pakistan and West Indies. Australia and West Indies reached the Finals, which West Indies won 2–0.
Uniforms
Points Table
Resu ...
.
The delivery
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
Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...
) 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
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...
. 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
The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals.
It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...
tournament in England), but was universally considered as archaic, uncompetitive, and not a bowling style that would ever be used seriously at even junior levels of the sport.
In accordance with cricket protocol, the umpires and batsmen were informed that the bowler was changing his delivery style and that the final ball would be delivered underarm. Trevor Chappell then rolled the ball along the pitch, in the style of
bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...
.
McKechnie blocked the ball defensively, then threw his bat away in a show of angry frustration. Australia had achieved victory by 6 runs. The New Zealand batsmen walked off the field in disgust.
The New Zealand captain,
Geoff Howarth
Geoffrey Philip Howarth (born 29 March 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former captain, who remains the only New Zealand captain to have positive win–loss records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. He was the third most success ...
, ran onto the field to plead with the umpires. Howarth believed underarm bowling to be illegal in the competition, as per the rules in the English one-day tournaments with which he was very familiar, specifically the
Benson and Hedges Cup
The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals.
It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...
.
In the confusion before the final ball was bowled, one of the Australian fielders,
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation". , did not walk into place, meaning that technically the ball should have been a
no-ball
In cricket, a no-ball (in the Laws and regulations: "No ball") is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal d ...
on the grounds that Australia had one too many fielders outside the field restriction line. Had the umpires noticed this, New Zealand would have been awarded one run for the no-ball, and the final ball would have had to be re-bowled.
Reactions
As the ball was being bowled,
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. Known as "Chappelli", he is considered as one of the greatest captains the game has seen. (elder 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" in an instinctive reaction to the incident, and he remained critical in a later newspaper article on the incident.
Commentating for
Channel 9 at the time, former Australian captain
Richie Benaud
Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...
described the act as "disgraceful" and said it was "one of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field".
New Zealand team member
Warren Lees recounted the underarm incident on New Zealand's ''
20/20
Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...
'' current affairs show in February 2005. He said that immediately after the match there had been a long silence in the New Zealand dressing room, which was broken suddenly and unexpectedly by fellow player
Mark Burgess throwing and smashing a tea cup against a wall. "That summed up how we all were feeling, too angry for words. We felt we'd been cheated. We were livid", Lees stated.
After the incident, the then
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023.
The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
,
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...
, described it as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket",
going on to say that "it was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow". The
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
,
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
, called the act "contrary to all the traditions of the game".
Greg Chappell's explanation
In later years, Greg Chappell claimed 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. 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
Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 ...
that he wanted to leave the field. Marsh, who described Chappell as being physically spent and exhausted, said that was not 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.
Legacy
As a direct result of the incident, underarm bowling was banned by the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
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 first One Day International of the tour. As Greg Chappell came out to bat, a
crown green bowls
Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is tradi ...
wood was rolled from the crowd on to the outfield, mimicking what had happened at the MCG the previous year. That day, he scored a century in a losing cause.
Although both Chappell brothers have publicly stated their embarrassment, McKechnie bears no ill-will over the incident. Greg Chappell says "All my frustrations boiled over on that day", while Trevor Chappell is reluctant to talk about it. Trevor Chappell remains best remembered for the "Underarm '81" incident.
The incident was later used to inspire an
instant kiwi lottery ad that humorously 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
A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...
in the way and subsequently hits a six as the ball deflects off it, resulting in embarrassment for the Australian players.
In 1993, Sir
Richard Hadlee
Sir Richard John Hadlee (born 3 July 1951) is a New Zealand former cricketer. Hadlee is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history, and amongst the very finest fast bowlers.
Hadlee was appointed an MBE in the 1 ...
bowled the ball underarm during the
Allan Border tribute match in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, causing much laughter from the crowd.
On 17 February 2005, over 24 years after the original underarm delivery, Australian fast bowler
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer whose career spanned 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler and is considered one of cricket's greatest bowlers and a leading contributor to Aus ...
light-heartedly revisited the incident in the first ever
Twenty20 international
Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
, 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
Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is a New Zealand cricket umpire and former cricketer. He was a player until rheumatoid arthritis forced him to retire. He is well known for his dramatic signalling style which includes the famous ...
to produce a mock
red card
A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction.
Red card may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers
* Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...
.
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 in the spirit it was intended by the crowd.
In the 2013 Australian movie ''
Backyard Ashes'', Spock rolls a can of beer along the ground to Shep before a backyard cricket match as an allusion to the incident.
References
{{Australia–New Zealand relations
1981 in Australian cricket
1981 in New Zealand cricket
New Zealand cricket in the 20th century
Cricket controversies
February 1981 sports events in Oceania
Australia–New Zealand sports relations
February 1981 sports events in Australia
Sports scandals in Australia