Chappell tells Paine to learn from his misdeed

Former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell has urged current skipper Tim Paine to learn from his own ‘‘transgression against the spirit of the game’’ in ordering the infamous underarm delivery against New Zealand 40 years ago.

Chappell commanded his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball underarm to New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie to prevent him hitting a six to tie a oneday international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1981.

Underarm bowling was not illegal at the time, but the incident offended cricket purists with captain Chappell widely condemned. Paine has been in the gun since abusing Indian batsman Ravi Ashwin in a ‘‘lapse of judgement’’ during the third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

That prompted Chappell to pen an open letter to Paine in the Sydney Morning Herald, expressing his own regret at the underarm incident and stating his relief that ‘‘social media was not around in my day’’.

Chappell, now 72, said off-field issues including scheduling, touring and the condition of the MCG pitch, ‘‘contributed to my frustration and anger, which overflowed in the latter stages of

that game, leading to my momentary folly. ‘‘But, none of them is an excuse for what happened.

‘‘Never having considered anything like this before, I was not prepared for the ferocity of the backlash, following my spurof-the moment brain fade.

‘‘My first indication was when a young girl, who had jumped the fence with thousands of other youngsters to rush out to the middle at the end of the game, came up beside me and tugged on my sleeve as I jogged towards the players gate. I looked down at her, and she said, ‘‘You cheated’’.

‘‘I knew then that this was going to be big. When the New Zealand Prime Minister joined the melee, it dawned on me that the implications were much broader than just the game of cricket.’’

Chappell said the fact people ‘‘still have strong feelings about my action, 40 years later, should be a lesson to us all. What I failed to do on that day was to maintain my equilibrium and equanimity in the face of changing and challenging circumstances.

‘‘Had I been able to take a step back from the issues swirling around me at the time, I might have made a different decision.

‘‘What I didn’t appreciate then, was that my decision set off a chain reaction that still pokes its head to this day. It affected my brother, my teammates, opponents in that match, the rest of my family, the game and possibly the standing of our country in the eyes of the rest of the cricketing world.’’

Meanwhile India was 253-6 at tea on day three in the fourth test at Brisbane. Australia made 369 with Marnus Labuschagne (108) top scorer.