The 1981 Underarm Bowling Incident: Cricket's Most Controversial Delivery
How Greg Chappell's instruction to Trevor Chappell to bowl underarm in the final delivery of an ODI against New Zealand in 1981 sparked an international controversy and became a defining moment of unsportsmanlike conduct in cricket.
On 1 February 1981, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia's captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor Chappell to bowl the final delivery of a Benson & Hedges World Series Cup ODI underarm along the ground, preventing New Zealand's last batter Brian McKechnie from hitting the six he needed to tie the match. The delivery was technically legal under the playing conditions at the time but universally condemned as contrary to the spirit of cricket — triggering a diplomatic incident between Australia and New Zealand and permanently altering the game's rules.
The Match Situation
Australia had posted 235/4 in their 50 overs. New Zealand, chasing, had reached 229/9 with one ball remaining — needing six runs off the last delivery for a tie. Brian McKechnie, a capable lower-order batter, was on strike. New Zealand had an outside chance of tying if McKechnie could clear the fence. Greg Chappell, Australia's captain, summoned Trevor from mid-on and instructed him to bowl the ball along the ground underarm. Trevor reportedly disagreed with the instruction but complied. McKechnie, realising the delivery was rolling along the ground, made no attempt to hit it and threw his bat down in disgust. The New Zealand dressing room erupted in fury.
International Reactions and Diplomatic Fallout
The reaction was immediate and severe. New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon called the decision 'the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket' and said it was done 'by a team that was playing for money.' Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser called it 'contrary to the spirit of cricket.' The television broadcast caught the fury of Australian fans in the MCG crowd — even the home supporters were horrified. Ian Chappell, the brothers' older brother and a former Australian captain watching as a commentator, described it as 'one of the worst things I've ever seen done on a cricket field.' The ABC commentary team's description of the delivery has become one of cricket's most replayed broadcasts. The diplomatic tension between Australia and New Zealand, already occasionally strained by competitive sporting rivalry, intensified.
Greg Chappell's Perspective and Legacy
Greg Chappell later acknowledged the decision was a mistake. In interviews over subsequent decades, he described a mental state of exhaustion after a gruelling World Series Cup schedule — Australia had played a large number of matches in a short period — and said his thinking at the time was purely pragmatic: that winning was his responsibility to his team. He expressed regret, particularly for the lasting damage to his reputation. Trevor Chappell, who executed the delivery, spoke of his own distress at being put in the position of carrying out the instruction. The incident overshadowed what had been a distinguished Test career for Greg Chappell — 7,110 Test runs at 53.86, considered one of Australia's finest ever batters. The underarm ball remains the first thing many cricket fans associate with his name.
Frequently asked questions
Was the underarm delivery actually illegal, and if not, why was it so widely condemned?
The underarm delivery was not explicitly illegal under the playing conditions in force on 1 February 1981. The relevant Laws of Cricket at that time and the specific playing conditions for the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup did not prohibit underarm bowling. It was legal in the same way that a batter walking off without waiting to be given out is not compelled by law — the Laws govern much, but not everything. The condemnation came from cricket's concept of the 'spirit of the game' — a set of unwritten norms about conduct that the Laws acknowledge but cannot fully codify. The spirit of cricket holds that teams should try to win through skill and that gamesmanship which exploits technicalities to deny the opposition a genuine opportunity violates something fundamental about competitive sport. McKechnie could not reasonably hit a six off a ball rolling along the ground, so the delivery did not offer New Zealand the chance the game's spirit requires. There is also a proportionality argument: one run victory margins are routine in cricket; a six off the last ball to tie is a 36-to-1 long shot. Australia's probability of winning with a legitimate delivery was overwhelming. Using a technically legal but fundamentally unsportsmanlike delivery to eliminate an already-tiny chance is widely seen as disproportionate and mean-spirited. The rule change came within weeks: the ICC and Cricket Australia updated their playing conditions to prohibit underarm bowling in limited-overs cricket. This rapid rule change is itself a verdict — cricket's governing body agreed that what was technically legal should no longer be. The Laws of Cricket now explicitly state that a ball must be bowled, not thrown or rolled, cementing what was previously just a norm into explicit rule.