On 25 June 1960, the 21-year-old South African Geoff Griffin took the first Test hat-trick ever recorded at Lord's — and was no-balled eleven times for throwing in the same match. After the Test ended early on the fourth day, the umpires no-balled him repeatedly in the exhibition match staged to fill the unused time, forcing him to complete the over underarm. He never played another Test.
By 1960 throwing had become the sport's defining anxiety. Australian fast bowlers Ian Meckiff and Gordon Rorke, England's Tony Lock, and West Indians Charlie Griffith had all been the subject of complaint. The MCC and Australian Board had agreed at a 1958 meeting to crack down. South African umpires had been instructed to be vigilant before the 1960 tour.
Griffin was no-balled in tour matches against Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire before the Tests began. The South African board protested mildly but did not stand him down. By the time he reached Lord's the English umpires had already decided what they had to do.
Griffin's selection for the 1960 South African tour of England had been controversial from the moment it was announced. He suffered from a childhood elbow injury that prevented him from straightening his right arm, and during warm-up matches he had been called for throwing by several county umpires. South African captain Jackie McGlew kept faith. By the second Test at Lord's, Griffin's place was already a story.
In England's first innings he was no-balled four times by umpire Frank Lee. In the second innings — with England 80 ahead and chasing quick runs to set up a declaration — Griffin produced his hat-trick: Mike Smith caught behind for 99, Peter Walker bowled for 52, and Fred Trueman bowled for 0. It was the first Test hat-trick in 22 years and the first ever at Lord's. He should have been a national hero. He was, instead, a public problem.
Lee called him a further seven times across the same Test, eleven calls in all. England won by an innings inside three days. To compensate the paying public, an exhibition limited-overs match was arranged for the unused time. McGlew put Griffin on. Umpire Syd Buller called him four times in two balls. Griffin, distraught, completed the over underarm so as not to be no-balled again. He was 21 years old.
He never played another Test. He bowled occasionally in domestic cricket in South Africa with a remodelled action but the spark was gone. Griffin returned to school teaching, married, and lived in obscurity until his death in 2006.
Day 1-2: Griffin no-balled four times by umpire Frank Lee in England's first innings.
Day 3: Griffin bowls Mike Smith caught behind for 99 — first ball of hat-trick.
Day 3: Walker bowled for 52, Trueman bowled for 0 — hat-trick complete.
Day 3: Lee calls Griffin seven more times in the same innings.
Day 3, evening: England win by an innings; exhibition match arranged for the unused day.
Day 4: Buller calls Griffin four times in two balls in the exhibition match.
Day 4: Griffin completes the over underarm to avoid further no-balls.
May 1960
Griffin no-balled in tour matches at Worcester and Trent Bridge.
23 Jun 1960
Second Test at Lord's begins; Griffin no-balled four times in first innings.
25 Jun 1960
Griffin takes Test hat-trick of Smith, Walker, Trueman.
25 Jun 1960
Lee calls Griffin seven more times; England win by an innings.
25 Jun 1960, evening
Exhibition match: Buller calls Griffin four times; he finishes underarm.
Aug 1960
Griffin sent home; never plays Test cricket again.
“I bowled the way I had always bowled. I just didn't know what to do.”
Griffin was sent home after the tour and never recalled. The South African board quietly dropped him. His Test record — 8 wickets at 24 — included the Lord's hat-trick that he could never bring himself to discuss in detail in later years.
The ICC convened a special meeting in 1960 to formalise the throwing law and instruct member nations to police it more aggressively. Within two years Meckiff, Rorke and several others would also be lost to the game.
Griffin was the most public victim of cricket's late-1950s war on throwing. He had a measurable physical reason for his suspect action and had been allowed to play; the system that selected him then publicly humiliated him at the home of cricket. Both the man and the policy came out badly.
The Griffin case became the cautionary tale that umpires and selectors quoted whenever the throwing question revived — most loudly in the Muralitharan controversy of 1995-2004. The lesson, repeated each time, was that publicly destroying a young bowler at Test level helps no one.
Pakistan, England
1987-12-09
Days before the Mike Gatting-Shakoor Rana finger-pointing row, Chris Broad refused to leave the crease for over a minute after being given out caught behind, an incident that helped poison the 1987 Faisalabad Test.
Australia vs South Africa
1963-12-06
On 6 December 1963 at the Gabba, in his first over of the first Test against South Africa, Australian left-arm fast bowler Ian Meckiff was no-balled four times by umpire Col Egar — for throwing. Captain Richie Benaud removed him after the over and never bowled him again. Meckiff retired from all cricket at the end of the match. He was 28.
Australia v England
1898-01-01
On 1 January 1898 at the MCG, umpire Jim Phillips called Australia's Ernie Jones for throwing — the first bowler ever no-balled for a suspect action in a Test match. Jones, the South Australian fast bowler famous for sending a ball through W.G. Grace's beard the previous summer, had been called once before the Test by Phillips in a tour match. The Melbourne call set off a 'chucking question' that would consume English county cricket through 1900-01 and end Arthur Mold's career.