For the last 37 years, Trevor Chappell has born the brunt of dastardly and cowardly accusations for bowling underarm at the MCG in a ODI against the Kiwis.
But yesterday when Cameron Bancroft freely admitted he tampered with the ball in Cape Town, Chappell has taken such a back seat no-one has even mentioned his name.
What a relief, especially as the instigator was never Trevor Chappell but his brother Greg, the Australian captain.
The Kiwis needed six off the last ball of the game to tie Australia, prompting Greg to make that disgraceful decision.
Underarm was legal at the time providing the batsman Brian McKechnie was forewarned, but it certainly wasn’t in the spirit of the game.
After the incident, the ICC moved with unheard of speed to ban underarm forever. But Trevor has copped it ever since.
He’s lost count of the number of people he’s met for the first time who greeted him with – “I know you, you’re the bloke who bowled the underarm”.
I once asked Trevor why he didn’t tell Greg to get stuffed and bowl it himself.
“You can’t be serious Lordy,” he replied.
“The Australian cricket captain is the second biggest appointment in Australia to the Prime Minister, and I have vivid memories of playing cricket at home in the backyard as kids with Ian, nine years older, and Greg, four years older – and both much bigger.
“There was no way I was ever going to stand up to either then, nor to Greg at the MCG”.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister at the time was Robert ‘Piggy’ Muldoon who added fuel to the Trans-Tasman fire by adding, “It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.”
The upshot to what has been described for 37 years as one of Australian sport’s lowest moments was absolutely nothing.
But it’s a big difference this time.
Cricket Australia stood down Steve Smith and David Warner as captain-vice captain with keeper Tim Paine surprisingly appointed stand-in captain.
The ICC followed swiftly by banning Smith from the next Test at Johannesburg for organising ball tampering, and fining the tamperer Bancroft 75 per cent of his match fee and handing him three demerit points.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
But that won’t be the last word.
Smith admitted at the post-day media conference yesterday the decision to tamper with the ball was made by the leadership group. It is believed that group consists of Smith, Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon.
How Bancroft entered the equation is still unanswered, as is coach Darren Lehmann’s involvement.
How more than half the team thought they could get away with tampering with 30 television cameras all round Newlands beggars belief.
It’s not only cheating, and not in the spirit of the game – but plain bloody stupid.
If you must cheat, don’t compete.
Even the umpires David Llong, and Richard Illingworth, two Englishmen with vast experience, don’t emerge with any credits to their CV.
(AP Photo/Halden Krog)
Obviously the ball had been tampered with, multi-television coverage proved that, but they didn’t change the ball.
The ICC will have something to say about that, while Cricket Australia hasn’t finished with the leadership group, Lehmann and Bancroft by a long shot.
Australia’s second dig overnight chasing 430 to win began with the ultimate irony.
Bancroft was not only guilty of ball tampering, but guilty of ball watching, leaning on his bat at the non-striker’s end.
Warner called for a quick single, but Bancroft wasn’t switched on and was run out.
Who threw the stumps down?
None other than South African captain Faf du Plessis who has twice been found guilty of ball tampering, after pleading not guilty.
The ultimate irony alright, and Trevor Chappell is off the hook.
anon
Roar Pro
Bancroft needs to be punished, but Smith is as culpable as Bancroft. We expect higher standards from the Australian Test captain. If methods of cheating are being discussed, it's up to the captain to say 'not on my watch'. If Smith or Warner wanted the ball tampered with they should have done it themselves rather than weak dogs who used the least experienced member of their squad to be the fall guy.
mark bp
Guest
very few players would do what steve smith did and openly and rapidly admit they made a error... and take responsibility for that error. the guy has COURAGE, INTEGRITY and has shown great HUMILITY.... and above all has shown he has REAL CHARACTER. everyone makes mistakes..... i hope you fellow australians find it in your hearts to support such  a person of great character and give him another opportunity. food for thought..... did the south african captain not SHOW INTENT to do exactly the same thing as cameron bancroft recently? did he openly admit his error or denign what he did????
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Targa, just one of several unforgivable aspects of this unsavoury incident in South Africa is the focus it took off the English debacle. You and I both know that simply is not on. I am just so glad I had set record for the first session. It gets better every time I watch it.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Rolly, it is too early to determine if those you mention have faced all the consequences for their actions. The ICC have delivered their penalties according to their demerit system. Cricket Australia have their Head of Integrity and High Performance Manager currently on the ground conducting their investigation. In fact, CEO James Sutherland is on his way to South Africa now. Watch this space for further fallout.
Targa
Guest
As a Kiwi I've forgotten about the underarm (for a day) and tape gate. We've just beaten the Poms by an innings despite 2 days of rain!
ScottD
Guest
spot on!
Whitey
Guest
Hi Dave, Can you imagine for a moment, Peter Thompson , Captain of the Presidents golf team, '' Yeah Scotty had a lie right up against a tree so we decided to give it a kick and get a better shot at the green. We got caught on film and we really regret it. It was the wrong thing to do. But we are going to put that behind us ,learn from it and focus on the future. And no I won't be resigning as Captain." Why on Earth does the Aussie cricket team think that they are different from any other rep team? If an Olympian admitted to cheating and asked everyone to ''understand'' and just move on he/she would be laughed at, sent home and barred from further competition. You know my love of the game. I woke up, heard about it and felt sick! Cheers mate Whitey
ScottD
Guest
Having said that, I understand that ICC has a policy position in place that will deal with Bancroft and it will be far less than a 12 month ban. I can accept that the standard rule is a 1 match suspension and penalty points on the record. I think it is too light but at least it will be a consistent approach to other tampering incidents.
ScottD
Guest
No mate. It was his mother's fault , not his.
Larry1950
Guest
Dumb & dumber Lordy. Mckechnie needed to hit a six to draw the match but an obviously under pressure captain ( wasn't Chappell going through his multi-duck period) ordered an underling to do something stupid and poorly considered although legal. Smith, batting poorly this series, does likewise but illegal.
ScottD
Guest
David, I am a Kiwi and I don't know of any other Kiwi's that blame Trevor Chappell for underarm bowling. They all know that it was the Captain that ordered it to happen and they also know that not all the Australian players on the field were in agreement with it. In any event, as you say it was legal at the time and was always seen by Kiwis as just an "underhanded" trick by the Aussies. Most, if they are honest would also add that there was no way a six would have been scored anyway so we scratch our heads as to why they bothered and note that it didn't change the inevitable result. However what happened yesterday is nothing less than an orchestrated conspiracy by the leadership of the Australian cricket team to breach the rules of the game of cricket to gain an advantage. This was no isolated momentary "one off" rush of blood to the head by an individual that lost sight of what was important - forever to be regretted. By their own admission, this was a deliberate and considered act, discussed and enacted by the leadership of the team that will forever bring the game, the team and Australian cricket into disrepute. In some ways much worse than this was the cynical way that they co-opted a relatively junior member of the team as their patsy. If nothing else, this shows that the Captain and Vice Captain don't have the "right stuff" to be the leaders of the Australian cricket team. It also suggests (unproven but worthy of further investigation) that there may be a cultural problem in the team. As far as I am concerned the Captain and Vice Captain have to be given life bans from international cricket. The rest of the leadership team insofar as they were or were not involved must be given appropriate penalties (according to their actual involvement or knowledge) and the moronic perpetrator should be given a 12 month ban. These are harsh penalties but consider the other options. Australia have been staunchly against cheating by other teams and in some ways (the sledging debate aside) have demonstrated all that is good about cricket behaviour. If they don't act swiftly, decisively and determinedly on this matter then everything they have done is going to be undermined and the stain from this incident will linger for a generation. Australian and World cricket can't let that happen.
Geo
Guest
The underarm bowling fiasco was less underhanded that the amateurish attempt to deceive in SA.
rock
Guest
Ah, my bad, I misread that bit then. I thought he was talking about further punishment from the ICC.
Big Daddy
Guest
David, That incident has stayed in my mind forever. Will never ever forgive Greg Chappell for that. Worst piece of sportsmanship by an,australian ever. This is different as it is cheating and was preconceived. Today no one falls on their sword so Smith must cop loss of captaincy . Remember this leadership group or inner sanctum whatever you want to call them got Mickey Arthur ousted and it has continued with appointment of Lehman. There needs to be changes.
David Lord
Expert
Read it again Deano70, I wrote underarm was legal at the time in February 1981, but within days the ICC banned underarm for life. You haven't made a revelation.
anon
Roar Pro
Smith is not just a cheat, but a locker room bully using his position of authority to get underlings to carry out his dirty work. Cheating is one thing. To pressure a mate into carrying out your dirty work (with an implied ‘or else you’ll be the next Maxwell’) is just a dog act. Gutless and cowardly. And we don’t need the likes of Shane Warne chiming in on this. Warne was caught taking money from bookies, and was rubbed out of the sport for year for taking a steroid masking agent while recovering from a shoulder injury (hoping to make it back in time for the 2003 World Cup).
David Lord
Expert
I didn't say the ICC isn't done, Cricket Australia is not done.
Marcus
Guest
Think you need to re-read that part of his article. Lord was saying that the ICC will have something to say about the umpires not changing out the ball after it had been tampered. I disagree. Reckon the umps examined the ball and thought it looked ok. Which means that not only are we crap at hiding our ball tampering, we are also ineffective at it. This whole situation may be avoided in the future by simply banning players from NSW from holding leadership positions in the test team.
Superba
Guest
The South African Immigration Minister has just offered fast tracked protection visas to 11 Australians facing imminent danger of prrsecution in their home country .
rock
Guest
Yep, and they have/will been punished for it. Smith & Warner to miss a match, lose the C & VC. Then, time to move on like other countries have similarly in the past. And no David, the ICC is done with this, if you don't believe me have a look at similar cases.