Trevor Martin Chappell (born October 21 1952) was an Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket.

He unwittingly and reluctantly became famous after bowling an underarm delivery when playing for Australia during a match against New Zealand in 1981, an incident still often described as the lowest point in the history of cricket.

The teams were contesting the final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. With only one ball left to be bowled, New Zealand needed to score six runs to tie the match. This would require the batsman to hit the ball over the boundary on the full. Following the advice of his brother Greg Chappell who was the Australian captain, Trevor Chappell rolled the ball along the ground to batsman Brian McKechnie (who was also an All Black).

Although it was not illegal to bowl underarm at the time, it was widely accepted to be the very worst example of bad sportsmanship, tantamount to cheating. McKechnie could do little but block the ball to avoid being dismissed, and Australia won the game. It was described as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket" by the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rob Muldoon. Underam bowling is no longer permitted.

External link

CricInfo article on Chappell