Underarm bowling incident of 1981

[2] In his live television commentary on Australia's Channel Nine, former Australian cricket captain Richie Benaud exclaimed: "That is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life".

Commentator Richie Benaud's post-game commentary accused Greg Chappell of having "got his sums wrong" by not having Lillee, his best bowler, take the final over.

Greg Chappell, the Australian captain, instructed the bowler (his younger brother Trevor) to bowl underarm in a bid to prevent the Number 10 New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) from getting under the delivery with sufficient power and elevation to hit a six.

[6][7] In accordance with cricket protocol, the umpires and batsmen were informed that the bowler was changing his delivery style and that the final ball would be delivered underarm.

Howarth believed underarm bowling to be illegal in the competition, as per the rules in the English one-day tournaments with which he was very familiar, specifically the Benson and Hedges Cup.

He said that immediately after the match there had been a long silence in the New Zealand dressing room, which was broken suddenly and unexpectedly by fellow player Mark Burgess throwing and smashing a tea cup against a wall.

[13] In later years, Greg Chappell claimed that he had been exhausted and stressed after a demanding season of cricket and that, in hindsight, he was not mentally fit to be captain at the time.

As Greg Chappell came out to bat, a crown green bowls wood was rolled from the crowd on to the outfield, mimicking what had happened at the MCG the previous year.

[21] The incident was later used to inspire an instant kiwi lottery ad that humorously depicts a rematch in which exactly the same conditions had arisen and Australia were again bowling the underarm.

[22] In 1993, Sir Richard Hadlee bowled the ball underarm during the Allan Border tribute match in Brisbane, causing much laughter from the crowd.

On 17 February 2005, over 24 years after the original underarm delivery, Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath light-heartedly revisited the incident in the first ever Twenty20 international, played between Australia and New Zealand.

In the last over of the match, a grinning McGrath mimed an underarm delivery to Kyle Mills, which prompted New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden to produce a mock red card.

[23] As New Zealand needed more than 44 runs to win off the last delivery, the outcome of the game was never in doubt, so it was positively received in the spirit it was intended by the crowd.