Donald Gordon Weser (born 8 February 1937) is a retired Australian Test cricket match umpire, from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He umpired 3 Test matches between 1979 and 1980. His first match was between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 10 to 14 February 1979, won by England by 9 wickets, thus retaining

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

. Australian captain

Graham Yallop Graham Neil Yallop (born 7 October 1952) is a former Australian international cricketer. Yallop played Test and One Day International cricket for the Australia national cricket team between 1976 and 1984, captaining the side briefly during the W ...

scored 121 of the first innings total of 198, but the rest of the batting in both innings failed against Ian Botham,

John Emburey John Ernest Emburey (born 20 August 1952) is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England. According to cricket writer Colin Bateman, Emburey's participation in two S ...

and

Geoff Miller Geoffrey Miller, (born 8 September 1952) is an English former cricketer, who played in 34 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1976 and 1984. He played for Derbyshire from 1973 to 1986, captaining t ...

. Weser's partner was fellow debutant

Tony Crafter Anthony Ronald (Tony) Crafter, (born 5 December 1940 in Mount Barker, South Australia), is a retired Australian Test cricket match umpire. He umpired 33 Test matches between 1979 and 1992, the highest number by an Australian umpire to that tim ...

. Weser's last Test match was between Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 12 to 14 December 1980, won by Australia by 8 wickets, with a bowling attack of

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

Rodney Hogg Rodney Malcolm Hogg (born 5 March 1951) is a former Victorian, South Australian and Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wickets ...

Len Pascoe Leonard Stephen Pascoe (born Leonard Stephen Durtanovich, 13 February 1950) is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer. Born at Bridgetown, Western Australia, Pascoe was educated at Punchbowl Boys' High School in New Sou ...

, and

Jim Higgs James Donald Higgs (born 11 July 1950) is a former Australian leg spinner who played in 22 Test matches between 1978 and 1981. In the words of Gideon Haigh "Jim Higgs was Australia's best legspinner between Richie Benaud and Warne. His misfo ...

proving too powerful. Weser's colleague was again

. Weser also umpired 8

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) matches between 1979 and 1981.

Underarm bowling incident of 1981

On 1 February 1981, during the third World Series Cup final at the MCG between Australia and New Zealand, Weser was informed by Greg Chappell that his brother Trevor would bowl the final ball underarm, thus denying New Zealand the chance to hit a six and tie the game. It was Weser's duty to inform both batsmen which he duly did. This incident, illegal in England but legal at the time in Australia, is one of the great controversies of world cricket. The match branded as the

Underarm incident The underarm bowling incident of 1981 is a sporting controversy which took place on 1 February 1981, when Australia played New Zealand in a One Day International cricket match, the third in the best-of-five final of the 1980–81 World Series ...

was notable for several umpiring controversies. During the Australian innings, Martin Snedden claimed a low outfield catch off the batting of

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

when Chappell was on 58. In his live commentary former Australian cricket captain

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

exclaimed "that is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life". Following a short discussion, Snedden's catch was ruled not out by the two Australian umpires, Weser and

Peter Cronin Peter Michael Cronin (born 21 December 1947) is a former Australian Test cricket match umpire, from South Australia. Umpiring career Cronin was one of two Australian umpires in the Underarm bowling incident of 1981. He umpired in one Test matc ...

. It was some years before TV replays could be used in umpiring decisions. However the Channel Nine TV broadcast did show viewers a number of slow motion replays of Snedden's catch from various TV angles including a close up of Snedden diving to fairly claim the catch. After reviewing several TV replays Benaud re-affirmed what he had initially seen live, stating in his commentary: "there is no question in my mind that that was a great catch - clearly caught above the ground, a superb catch." Chappell went on to score 90 in his innings. In yet another umpiring controversy during the match, Australia had one too many fielders outside the field restriction line when the final ball was bowled meaning the delivery should have been adjudged a no-ball by the umpires. The match would be the last international men's cricket match Weser was to umpire. The Underarm match would also be the last international match for umpire Cronin. Weser did umpire one women's Test match in 1984. Altogether, he umpired 32 first-class matches in his career between 1977 and 1985. He has a son - Michael Perry Weser (born 17 September 1958)

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weser, Don 1937 births Living people Australian Test cricket umpires Australian One Day International cricket umpires

Underarm bowling incident of 1981

See also

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