HAUNTED FOREVER
THE man who bowled the infamous underarm delivery 37 years ago says the decision to cheat in South Africa will haunt Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft forever. “They will struggle for the rest of their lives and be known as the ones who brought Australian cricket into disrepute,” Trevor Chappell said.
VILIFIED for years for his role in Australian cricket’s greatest on-field scandal until last weekend, Trevor Chappell has warned Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft their lives will always be tainted: “They’ll have to live with what they’ve done forever.”
In an exclusive interview, Chappell said that bowling his infamous underarm delivery to secure victory against New Zealand in 1981 had taken a mental toll on him and cost him his marriage and the chance of a family.
“What I did has lived with me ever since and it will be the same for Smith and Bancroft,” Chappell, 65, said. “They will struggle for the rest of their lives and be known as the ones who brought Australian cricket into disrepute.
“They’ll have to live with what they’ve done forever. Whether it haunts them for the rest of their lives is down to them but I haven’t been able to shake it off what happened to me in 37 years.”
The youngest of three Chappell brothers who played for Australia is now relieved the current team’s ball-tampering furore means he is no longer the main villain in the annals of Australian cricket.
“I’m the last one who comes up on Google as the man who took the lead role in Australian cricket’s darkest day – it’s a real relief I can finally drop that title,” he said.
Chappell these days barely speaks to his brother Greg, who as the Australian captain on the day ordered him to deliver the notorious lawn bowls delivery at the MCG to prevent Kiwi batsman Brian McKechnie from hitting a six that would have tied the match.
At the time underarm deliveries were within the laws but not the spirit of the game in Australia and the incident generated a huge controversy on both sides of the Tasman – with the Australian and NZ prime ministers fiercely critical.
“I thought it was a good idea to underarm bowl at the time but not these days,” he said.
“I struggled a lot with it mentally. I was vilified for years and people will still ask about it.
“I don’t know if my brothers have done better in life than me after what happened. Greg copped it at the time, but the quiet life certainly chose me after that — my marriage broke down and I never remarried or had kids. These days all I do is coach cricket to kids and play golf,” he said.
He blamed the pressure of the controversy for his eventual split with wife Lorraine. “The pressure of what happened on the cricket pitch in 1981 didn’t help. I kept things bottled up instead of talking about them,” he said. “It’s sad but that’s what happened.”
As captain, Smith has been universally condemned after admitting that he authorised Bancroft to use tape to interfere with the ball in a bid to create reverse swing against South Africa. Vicecaptain David Warner has also been stood down by Cricket Australia over his role in the scandal.
After he retired from firstclass cricket in the mid-1980s, Chappell sought a lifeline through coaching. He started at Gordon Women’s Cricket Club in Sydney. He later became fielding coach with Sri Lanka, followed by a stint as head coach of Bangladesh in the early 2000s.
Nowadays he is head coach for Gordon and lives in a modest three-bedroom house in the north Sydney suburb of Ryde.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO UNDERARM BOWL AT THE TIME BUT NOT THESE DAYS. I STRUGGLED A LOT WITH IT MENTALLY. I WAS VILIFIED FOR YEARS AND PEOPLE WILL STILL ASK ABOUT IT. TREVOR CHAPPELL