Sri lankan off-spinner's no-ball has created a buzz, but he'll sure feel better when he compares his act to the 1981 underarm incident
Sri lankan off-spinner's no-ball has created a buzz, but he'll sure feel better when he compares his act to the 1981 underarm incident
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Considering his talent and ability, Suraj Randiv might go on to bowl countless good deliveries. But the one he delivered to Virender Sehwag in Dambulla on Monday night will be talked about forever.
Like Randiv, Trevor Chappell earned notoriety when he bowled an underarm ball to New Zealander tailender Brian McKechnie in the World Series Cup of 1980-81.
The extensive publicity Randiv's act has received notwithstanding, Trevor's underarm which was ordered by brother and captain Greg Chappell at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 1, 1981 will stay as the mother of all unsporting incidents in the willow game.
Trevor was spot on when he once said, "I bowled 736 balls in one-day cricket and no-one has ever asked about the other 735."
Hectic season
Greg did not want New Zealand to get a six off the last ball of the game and had the Kiwis done so, it would mean Australia play one more match in a hectic season.
The genesis of the underarm incident can be traced back to the days of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket days in the late 1970s. At VFL Park in Melbourne, West Indian tailender Wayne Daniel hit Aussie paceman Mick Malone for a six to pull off a last-ball win. Greg, who was part of that Australian team did not want a repeat of that show and he ordered Trevor to bowl underarm.
The incident had its advantage. There was more needle when the neighbours clashed on a cricket field. And former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney once told Greg: "We spent 30 fruitless years trying to get New Zealand sports fans united behind their cricket team in the way they support the All Blacks. We failed but you managed it in three minutes ufffd you brought the country together."
No love lost
MiD DAY columnist Ian Chappell, who was at the game as commentator, was not impressed by what he saw. "Fair dinkum, Greg," Ian wrote in his column. "How much pride do you sacrifice to win $35,000?" Greg did not appreciate Ian's criticism and he made it known when they met for the first time after the incident. Ian is believed to have reacted by saying, "One Chappell bowled it, the other Chappell ordered it and if the third Chappell agreed with it, they'll think we are all mad."
Richie Benaud was livid and in his day's summary, he said: "It was a disgraceful performance from a captain who got his sums wrong (Greg did not preserve his spearhead Dennis Lillee for the last over) today.
"It should never be permitted to happen again. We keep reading that the players were under a lot of pressure and they are tired and jaded and that their judgement and skill is blunted. Perhaps, they might advance that as an excuse for what happened there today. Not with me! It was one of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field."
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