It's without doubt one of the most infamous sporting moments in trans-Tasman history and regardless of which side you were on, at the time it was one of the ugliest.
But plenty of water has gone under the bridge since the infamous underarm incident at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with some of the Black Caps involved in the match now thankful for the incident 40 years on.
“It’s a brilliant moment of sporting history really,” Martin Snedden said.
Earlier in the match, Snedden had his own moment of controversy when his catch to dismiss Greg Chappell was ruled not out as the umpires were apparently looking elsewhere.
“I lay on the ground for a bit then looked up and thought. ‘there’s not much happening in the middle, Greg’s not walking’.
“We'd had series of line-ball decisions go against us… it was an absolute shambles, for them to say they weren't watching was pathetic.”
Bruce Edgar meanwhile was potentially robbed of the next day's headlines after scoring the first ODI century by a Kiwi in Australia.
Marring the milestone more was the fact he was forced to watch the farcical finish from the non-striker's end.
“Just a stupid way to finish the game, [it] had been such a good game,” Edgar said.
“Then all hell broke loose after that.”
But despite that, Edgar and Snedden said there was never any bad blood between the sides and, if anything, it helped promote cricket here.
“Greg's a good friend. He knows he made a mistake at the time, but hey, big thanks from New Zealand - it put bums on seats,” Edgar said.
“The impact of the underarm catapulted cricket up there with rugby, and for the next four or five years it was as popular as rugby. So in the end we've got a lot to thank for ‘81,” Martin added.
Even today, Snedden and Edgar said the incident is still a handy piece of ammunition.
“It’s probably embedded in our psyche now. When things go wrong with Australia, we can bring it up,” Edgar joked.
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