Today, February 1, 2016, marks the 35th anniversary of the infamous underarm delivery. The player who copped the most criticism from it, somewhat justifiably, was Greg Chappell. However how have Trevor Chappell and Rod Marsh not taken more of the blame?
Trevor Chappell was playing for Australia. He knew what he was doing wasn’t in the spirit of the game. He could have told his brother – the captain who told him to bowl underarm – to go and get lost, but didn’t.
He let his brother, who was out of order, down.
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Rod Marsh came out of it with little or no criticism at all. But he was right there, shaking his head and doing nothing!
Marsh could have stepped in and put an end to it before it got going. He could have said, “Bad idea mate, we aren’t doing that”, but he stood there shaking his head. How was ‘no mate’ going to help the situation?
Marsh did nothing to help the situation, and sometimes doing nothing is as bad as being part of it. In this case, it was.
However, Marsh avoided criticism as the media went for the skipper.
Greg Chappell, of course, is not blameless. He was foolish and no matter how great a career he had, that incident will always be mentioned.
Like bodyline is forever a black mark for English cricket, this is forever a black mark for Australian cricket. However Greg Chappell shouldn’t be the only one to shoulder the blame. Trevor Chappell and Rodney Marsh could have put an end to the ridiculous idea before it got going.
Doogs
Guest
I feel silly for responding to this article. But there have been a few stories posted that show that Rod Marsh did oppose the idea of the underarm bowling. Apart from laying down on the pitch I am not sure what else he could do. This article has a lot of speculation in it. Also Trevor Chappell felt under enormous pressure to do what he was asked. Here are two great reports on what happened that day from people who were actually there: http://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/trevor-chappell-bowls-underarm-under-instructions-of-brother-greg-against-new-zealand-22613 and http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/02/01/trevor-chappell-rod-marsh-also-blame-underarm-incident/?utm_campaign=most_discussed
Beardan
Roar Guru
No dramas mate. Love to go through that stuff... On the slowest outfield you will ever see against Macquarie Uni, I made 98 out of a score of 180. I should have played straight and was plumb LBW trying to flick one through square leg to bring up the ton. They made 123 in reply. I did drop a catch at second slip before taking 2 catches, one at slip and one at bat pad off the spinner. After making the 98 i went and watched Il Divo with my wife as she liked their stuff (and I assume their music as well ;))
Paul D
Roar Guru
Tell us how many runs you scored for Auburn again, clearly your credibility is slipping in Peeeko's eyes and needs re-affirming.
Beardan
Roar Guru
Can you not click on my articles please. If i wanted to be annoyed by someone i'd watch Karl Stefanovic. You follow me around more than a hungry dog.
Peter
Guest
That's assuming he has mates...
Paul D
Roar Guru
Haha, cheers Barry. Glad you enjoyed it.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Your indoor cricket article Paul D was definitely a "noble piece"
TommyH
Guest
Haha its good entertainment though.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha - I remember that one from one of Tangles' old books..."how to tame lions" or "how to hypnotise chooks"
peeeko
Roar Guru
i am beginning to think Beardans articles are part of a social experiment. His comments can not be from a sane person
Kiwi in us
Guest
I was 12 when this happened, and having never met an Australian. Hence it was easy over time to blame all Australians. I'm over it now though.
bigbaz
Roar Guru
Mate, there's different rules for us.
Beardan
Roar Guru
Yeah i just read a bit of your article and was half asleep when i typed it so i was bound to make some errors. Nobody was lining up to tell you cause nobody cares about indoor cricket!
JGK
Roar Guru
That said, it is still right and just for all Australians to hate and despise Douglas Jardine and all he stood for.
JGK
Roar Guru
"To me a grudge is simply a place to pork your core"
jamesb
Guest
The Barry Another story is when Trevor Chappell accepted a coaching position in New Zealand. One of his old team mates was querying Chappells choice of accepting the job, and thought that he might cop abuse from the kiwis over there. When Trevor Chappell returned to Australia following his coaching job in NZ, someone asked him how it went. His reply, "Beautiful the only time I heard about the underarm was twice, and one of those times was a tv commercial regarding about an underarm deodorant"
jamesb
Guest
Ok, so the underarm incident occurred 35 years ago. But at some point we have to move on from this incident. We cant exactly hold a grudge on players who have retired from cricket roughly 30 years ago. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I liked your indoor article mate. Your LMS one was good too.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I don’t see a queue of people lining up under my article to tell me it’s terrible. Nobel and peace are the words you’re looking for by the way.
Beardan
Roar Guru
You should get a noble piece prize for writing about indoor cricket and single handedly curing insomnia