First off I know....?

Question

nothing about cricket. I was reading differnt sports stuff. What is the (1981 underhand cricket incident ) all about.
Thanks

Answer 1

First off, bear in mind that ALL bowling in cricket is over-arm. Under-arm bowling ( not "underhand") has not been used regularly for over 100 years. This is important, to understand what all the fuss was about...

In 1981, Australia were playing New Zealand in a one-day match in Melbourne.

New Zealand, batting, needed six runs to tie the match from the final ball of the match, with two wickets still remaining.

The Australian captain Greg Chappell ordered the bowler, who was his younger brother Trevor, to bowl the last ball under-arm, in other words rolling the ball along the ground to avoid any possibility that the New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) could score a six by hitting the ball out of the ground.

McKechnie could only play the ball gently back, so Australia won the game, but the crowd reacted very badly to Chappell and loud boos were heard, and the New Zealand batsmen threw away their bats and marched off in disgust.

Because the concept of "fair play" is so fundamental and traditional in cricket, Chappell's decision was widely held as extremely unsporting and cynical...even though it was within the laws of the game strictly speaking.

Since that day the incident has been a constant source of heated argument between Australians and New Zealanders.

It was described as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket" by the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Robert Muldoon, who also said that "It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow". Even the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, called the act "contrary to all the traditions of the game". Commentating for Channel 9 Australian TV at the time, famous former Australia captain Richie Benaud described the act as "disgraceful" and called it "one of the worst things I have ever seen on a cricket field".

As a direct result of the incident, underarm bowling was permanently banned in one day cricket by the International Cricket Council as not being within the spirit of the game.

Answer 2

An infamous incident involving an underarm delivery occurred on February 1, 1981 when Australia was playing New Zealand in a One-Day International, the third of five cricket matches in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

New Zealand needed six runs to tie the match from the final ball, with eight wickets down. The Australian captain (Greg Chappell) ordered the bowler (his brother, Trevor Chappell) to bowl underarm: rolling the ball along the ground to avoid the possibility that the No. 10 New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) would score a six from the last ball to tie the match.

Australia won the game, but boos were heard from the crowd and the New Zealand batsmen marched off in disgust. Since that day the underarm bowling incident has been a source of discussion, both heated and jocular, between Australians and New Zealanders.