Benson & Hedges Third Match - 1981
The third match of the 1981 Benson & Hedges World Series Cup was played on February 1 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia. The 5-match series was already leveled at 1-1 with both the teams having won a match each, New Zealand winning the first and Australia the second. Nearing the end of the third match, Australian bowler Trevor Chappell created a controversy by bowling an underarm delivery to New Zealand’s Brian Mckehnie to ensure Australian victory.
The Incident
The Australian bowler preferred to deliver his last ball as an underarm delivery on receiving instructions from his captain, Greg Chappell, also his brother. New Zealand needed 6 runs to tie the match with their opponents, winning it was out of chance anyway. At the end of the match, the batsman at the non-strikers end, Bruce Edgar had made 102 runs unbeaten. Media has dubbed his efforts as “the most overlooked century of all time.”
Earlier Controversies
In the Australian innings, another controversy was created when Martin Snedden took a low-catch off Greg Chappell’s shot. The television replays clearly showed the clear catch but the match umpires gave Chappell the benefit-of-doubt and announced him not-out. Chappell was playing at 52 at that time and went ahead to score 90 before being dismissed in an alike catch. Also, just before the final ball was delivered Australia had a player more than the restricted fielders outside the restricted line. Dennis Lillee had forgotten to walk inside the line and hence, the ball should have been called a no-ball.
Underarm is a bowling style in cricket wherein the ball is delivered without the hand being lifted above the level of the waist. According to the 2000 Code, underarm bowling is presently considered illegal unless otherwise agreed to before the start of the match. At that time underarm bowling was allowed in cricket matches and Greg ordered Trevor to bowl so to avoid playing more matches in deciding the series outcome. This action was well within the laws of cricket but treated unsportsmanlike.
Co-incidentally, Ian Chappell who is the eldest of the Chappell brothers was the one commentating on the match at the time of the incident. He reacted in front of the media saying, “No, Greg, no, you can’t do that”. Later, in a newspaper article, Greg remained unsupportive of his younger brothers’ actions. Though Australia won the game, but they were booed off the field by spectators. McKechnie showed his frustration by throwing the bat on to the ground after facing the final ball. Satirically, McKechnie was condemned for this action on counts of showing disrespect to the game of cricket.
The Criticism
The then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rob Muldoon also expressed his dislike and described the incident as “the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket” and added that “it was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow”. Even the Australian Prime Minister described the work “contrary to the traditions of the game”. Richie Benaud, a former Australian player believes that Greg Chappell made a mistake in his calculations and was forced to use Trevor, a less talented bowler, for the last over instead of Lillee. Both the Chappell brothers have expressed their regret over the incident, about 30 years after it occurred. But unfortunately for Trevor Chappell, this incident is what he will ever be remembered for in the history of cricket.