Column | Infamous acts which led to cricket rule changes

Every sport on earth is governed by a set of laws that govern its conduct. These statutes have undergone suitable changes as the reach and popularity of the respective sport expanded over time. The introduction of new equipment, universal television coverage and big ticket sponsorship are some of the common factors that had a bearing on all sporting events during the last few decades. However, there are some instances, especially in cricket, where actions of individual cricketers resulted in change in the laws of the game. The most infamous among these are the aluminium bat episode of 1979 featuring Dennis Lillee and the underarm bowling done by Trevor Chappell at the instance of his elder brother and captain Greg in 1981. As both these incidents directly led to changes in the laws of cricket, they are worth recounting.

Cricket bats have traditionally been made from English willow and laws specified only the length, breadth and thickness of the blade for various grades of cricket. There was no specific stipulation in the statute that blade of the bat should be made of wood. After the end of Kerry Packer sponsored World Series Cricket (WSC) in mid 1979, Australian Cricket Board organised a tri-series featuring the hosts, England and the West Indies towards the end of that year. Both England and the West Indies were scheduled to play three Tests each against Australia followed by a tri-nation One-Day International (ODI) series. England led by Mike Brearley, who had routed a weakened Aussie side just a year ago took on the full strength hosts, under Greg Chappell, in the first Test at Perth.

Lillee, the Aussie fast bowler, had made a statement prior to the start of the season that he was promoting the use of aluminium bats. He also mentioned that he would be using such bats during the Test matches. Since Lillee had only modest abilities with the bat, his statements in this regard were seen more as a advertising ploy to promote this product, which was manufactured by a company owned by his friend Graeme Monoghan. No eyebrows were raised when he used it in the Test against the West Indies. But things changed when he used it in the game against England.

On the second day of the Test, Lillee walked in to bat with the aluminium bat and played a ball bowled by Ian Botham towards extra cover and took three runs. When the ball was returned, Botham showed it to his captain Brearley, following which the England captain went and complained to the umpires that the aluminium bat was damaging the ball and hence batsman should be asked to use one made with normal willow. Umpires conveyed this message to Lillee, who promptly declined to oblige. A full-fledged argument ensued among the umpires, Brearley and Lillee, which ended only when Australian skipper Greg Chappell emerged from the pavilion, handed over a regular bat to Lillee and firmly told him to play with it. Lillee was not amused and threw the aluminium bat towards the pavilion! 

Lillee was dismissed soon after that but the downside for England was that this incident pumped him up so much that he bowled a fiery opening spell in which he dismissed the England openers - Derek Randall and Geoff Boycott - for ducks. England lost the Test by a margin of 138 runs, with Lillee picking up six wickets conceding 148 runs. At the end of the game, Lillee collected the autographs of all players who took part in it on the aluminium bat, which he kept as a souvenir.

This incident brought aluminium bats into focus and the sales of this equipment made by Monaghan’s company soared. But cricket administrators had the last laugh as they moved quickly to replace the existing law relating to bat, by inserting the clause that blade of bat must be made of wood. This new law appeared in the 1980 edition of Laws of Cricket and put an end to the business prospects of Monoghan and other entrepreneurs who had harboured similar thoughts.

When cricket was first played bowling used to be done underarm. It was only towards the middle of 19th century that bowling overarm with the arm kept straight without bending at the elbow gained popularity. By the time the Test matches started, the overarm mode of delivery became accepted as the chosen method of bowling. However, the statute continued to retain a provision for delivering the ball underarm, may be out of some acute sense of attachment to the history and traditions of the game.

The hazard of keeping the clause allowing underarm bowling came to be understood in a shocking manner during the 1980-81 season in Australia when that country hosted India and New Zealand. As in the previous season the hosts were to play three Tests each against the visitors with a World Series Cup tri-nation ODI tournament completing the action on the field. Australia and New Zealand qualified for the best of five finals, the result of which was tied at 1-1 when the two sides met each other for the third game at Melbourne on February 1, 1981.

Australia batted first and put up a total score of 235/4, led by a knock of 90 by Greg Chappell. When he was on 58, Greg was caught at midwicket by Martin Snedden who ran 20 yards and dived to pick a superb catch but the umpire refused to give him “out” as he was not watching the ball but looking for any “short runs”. This incident did not make either Greg or the umpires popular with the New Zealand camp. But they put this behind them when their turn to bat came and, helped by a  brilliant century by Bruce Edgar, reached a score of 221 when the final over began. A miscalculation by skipper Greg ensured that Lillee, who used to bowl at the death, had completed his quote of overs and hence Trevor was asked to bowl the last over. Richard Hadlee, who was on strike, hit the first ball for a boundary but was dismissed off the next ball. New man Ian Smith struck a couple each off the next two balls but fell to the next when he was clean bowled with the total at 229. Thus, when the next batsman Brian McKechnie walked in, the visitors needed  six runs from the final ball to force a tie.

Though it was almost impossible to expect a No. 10 batsman to hit the first ball he faced for a six, especially during those days when tailenders were not proficient with the bat, skipper Greg panicked. He instructed his brother to deliver the last ball underarm to ensure that the batsman had no chance whatsoever of hitting it over the boundary. Trevor informed the umpires about the change in mode of delivery and they, in turn, told the batsmen. McKechnie blocked the ball which was rolled to him by Trevor, thus making Australia winners by six runs.

Cricket world was shocked by the action of Greg which invited all-round condemnation. Ian Chappell, who was in the commentary box when this happened shouted out “No Greg no, you can’t do that”. Richie Benaud, his partner in the box, called it the “most disgraceful thing he had seen on a cricket ground”. The disgust felt by the New Zealanders was summed up by their Prime Minister Robert Muldoon who said that it was “true cowardice”. Norman Foster, Prime Minister of Australia, too criticised his side saying that the action was “contrary to all traditions of the game”. Greg was contrite enough to state in later life that he was too exhausted and stressed out and not mentally fit to lead the side on that day. But the damage was done and he blotted his record by this decision which he surely would have rued afterwards. 

Imperial Cricket Conference (forerunner of the present day International Cricket Council) moved swiftly following the outcry and banned underarm bowling through an amendment to the laws of the game. Trevor, who had a truncated career in international cricket, remains condemned to be remembered by followers of the game solely on account of being part of this unsportsmanlike incident, which remains the only recorded instance of underarm bowling in international cricket. 

(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)