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Underarm bowling
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== In modern cricket == Underarm bowling became virtually extinct after the First World War. [[Trevor Molony]], who represented [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]] in three matches in 1921, is considered as the last specialist lob-bowler to play first-class cricket. However, [[Gerald Brodribb]] in his book on this subject lists about twenty-five instances since that time when underarm lob bowling was employed as an occasional tactic in first-class matches. The list of bowlers who have tried this includes [[Hedley Verity]], [[Jack Iverson]], [[Mike Brearley]], [[George Brown (cricketer, born 1887)|George Brown]], [[Wilf Wooller]], [[Maharaja Bhupinder Singh|Maharaja of Patiala]] and [[Fred Root]]. Bowlers have employed underarm bowling for a variety of reasons. When the [[Trinidad and Tobago cricket team|Trinidadian]] cricketer Syed Mubarak Ali was no-balled 30 times for [[Throwing (cricket)|throwing]] in a match against [[Barbados cricket team|Barbados]] in 1942, he resorted to simply rolling the ball along the ground to avoid more no-balls. In similar circumstances, [[South African cricket team|South African]] bowler [[Geoff Griffin]] did the same in an exhibition match that followed the Test against [[English cricket team|England]] at [[Lord's]] in 1960, where he had already been no-balled. As rain threatened to end the match between [[Victorian Bushrangers|Victoria]] and [[Marylebone Cricket Club|MCC]] in 1928β29, the MCC bowler [[Fred Barratt]] rolled the ball along the ground to allow [[Bill Woodfull]] to score a four to complete his hundred and Victoria to win.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/13/13310.html|title=The Home of CricketArchive|website=cricketarchive.co.uk}}</ref> But some of the modern instances of underarm deliveries occurred when bowlers did it in frustration to register some form of protest; when [[Lancashire County Cricket Club|Lancashire]] batted on for too long against [[Oxford University cricket team|Oxford University]] at Oxford in 1990, [[Phil Gerrans]], an Australian playing for Oxford, bowled a ball underarm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/52/52943.html|title=The Home of Cricket Archive|website=cricketarchive.co.uk}}</ref> Since he had not informed the umpire of the change of action, he was no-balled. This appears to be the most recent recorded instance of underarm bowling in first-class cricket. ===Definition=== Technically speaking, an underarm delivery is one in which the bowler's hand does not rise above the level of the ''waist''. The ''[[Laws of Cricket]]'' now (2000 Code) declare that an underarm delivery is illegal ''unless otherwise agreed before the match''.<ref>[http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-24-no-ball,50,AR.html ''Laws of Cricket'' #24 re no-ball] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227213453/http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-24-no-ball%2C50%2CAR.html |date=27 December 2012 }}</ref> A delivery is a [[no-ball]] if it bounces more than twice before passing the [[popping crease]]: an underarm delivery cannot be performed rolling along the ground. A pitched underarm delivery is a good ball, providing it only pitches once, and providing the opposing captain has agreed beforehand that the style may be used. It is unlikely that any bowler would reintroduce the style, given modern pitch conditions. ===1981 incident=== {{main|Underarm bowling incident of 1981}} A highly controversial incident occurred in the final of the Benson & Hedges [[World Series Cup]] at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]] in 1981 when Australian bowler [[Trevor Chappell]], under orders from his captain and brother [[Greg Chappell]], rolled the final ball along the ground to batsman [[Brian McKechnie]] to avoid the possibility of it being hit for the six runs that New Zealand needed to tie the match.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1980-81/OD_TOURNEYS/WSC/AUS_NZ_WSC_ODI-FINAL3_01FEB1981.html |title=Cricinfo scorecard of the match |work=Aus.cricinfo.com |access-date=10 January 2014}}</ref>
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