UNDERHAND? GET OVER IT
An ‘act of true cowardice’... but 40 years on, sorry is still the hardest word for Chappell
UP in the commentary box, in his fawn and beige jacket-and-tie combination, the voice of cricket was having none of it.
“I thought it was a disgraceful performance and it should never be permitted to happen again,” was Richie Benaud’s unequivocal verdict.
“One of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field. Goodnight.”
And with Benaud’s damning indictment, delivered with that hypnotic stare right into the camera’s aperture, Trevor Chappell’s place in cricket’s hall of shame was secured forever.
Forty years ago today – on the instruction of his brother Greg, the Australian captain – Chappell’s grubby underarm delivery denied New Zealand any chance of the six runs required from the final ball to tie a one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Kiwi batsman Brian McKechnie was so disgusted he blocked the trundled insult and tossed away his bat in disgust.
Aussie wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh, whose verbals behind the stumps were not always in the best possible taste, was notably embarrassed by the Chappell brotherhood’s desperation to win at all costs.
And the dismal spectacle became a diplomatic incident across the Tasman Sea, with New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon frothing: “It was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.” Kiwi prime ministers have been less voluble about other sporting outrages, notably spear tackles on Lions captains in the first minute of a Test series.
However, as a direct consequence, the ICC outlawed underarm bowling because it was not within the spirit of the game.
The following year, when he ran the gauntlet of a boisterous 43,000 crowd in Auckland, Greg Chappell was greeted by a crown green bowls wood rolled across the outfield as he walked out to bat.
Now Trevor has revealed why he never apologised to the New Zealanders – because he believes there is “not much point”.
But speaking to Brisbane’s CourierMail, in a rare interview on the scandal, he acknowledged that introducing himself to strangers still elicits the same response: “Ah, the underarm bowler.”
Trevor, 68, said: “It was a negative thing in your life – get over it, get on with life. One thing I’ve learned in life is that to focus on negative events doesn’t do your physical or mental health any good.
“That’s also the reason I’ve never apologised to the New Zealanders – whether I’m sorry or not isn’t going to change anything. It’s not going to make any difference to them.”
Of the incident itself, Trevor revealed: “Greg said to me, ‘How is your underarm bowling?’ I said, ‘I don’t know’ and he replied, ‘Well, you are about to find out’.
“Rod Marsh was saying, ‘Don’t do it’ but I just shrugged my shoulders and pointed in Greg’s direction saying, ‘Tell him, not me’. I was a new player in the team at the time and I didn’t feel I had any authority to say, ‘I don’t think that’s a great idea’. “Would I do it differently Well, I would have to differently, because it’s now.”
Years later, at a function in Auckland, the leader of Kiwi supporters group the Beige Brigade (named after New Zealand’s historically dreary one-day kit) collared Trevor and told him: “My father thought you were an a ******* but would you mind signing his birthday card?”
Trevor decided to enter into the spirit of the occasion, as he wrote in the greetings card: “So you think I’m an a ******* , do you? Happy birthday.” today? do it illegal