Many fans of the game would likely disagree; personally, a couple of match fixing scandals and the underarm delivery vs New Zealand were worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M
In New Zealand in the months following the underarm disgrace, my ten-year-old friends would establish the rules for our games of backyard cricket by asking, "proper bowling or Australian rules?"
1. For those that don't know the history of the underarm delivery, in a match between Australia and New Zealand the final ball was bowled underarm so the batsman had no chance of hitting the ball over the fence for 6. This was the only way NZ could win. For historical reasons bowling underarm had been allowed, but it had not been used for more than 100 years.
Edit. There have been some changes to the rules so you can't let a ball bounce more than twice now [2]. You should be able to bowl very slowly though.
Fast bowlers bowling towards the end of limited overs cricket and facing aggressive attacking shots actually do bowl occasional "slower balls" using their normal delivery stride to try to catch out opponents who tend to mistime shots when the ball arrives slightly later at ~70mph rather than the expected ~85mph. But you're not going to catch them out with a gentle 30mph lob down the pitch, just like a decent tennis player will not have difficulty returning an attempted drop shot serve
Letting the ball bounce twice was effective enough that the ECC banned it for county cricket just recently so obviously someone had the same clever idea as me :)
County champ tennis player and LTA coach here. You might not see this much from tour players (though Razzano had a crack at it in Paris this year [0]) but I can assure you a well executed 'drop shot' serve will befuddle even the most experienced player. So much so that it is considered unsporting [1]. In fact, 'under hand' serving is allowed in tennis but it is conventional - though not a rule - to inform your opponent that you are doing so for this very reason.
For a quick take on why, your expectation (long serve) will be violated. While you're getting over that you'll need to be running up court (getting on for 12m depending on where you were standing to receive) starting from a stance that was balanced to go left or right. By the time you get there, you're likely going to be hitting the ball on the drop with an over extended racquet which limits your shot selection quite drastically, and the whole back of the court is now open, rendering you vulnerable to a lob or passing shot - the very things that make drop shots such an effective weapon.
I know a few players who are constantly working on their drop serves, but it is a super hard shot to play well, which is at least one of the reasons you won't see it much at pro tournaments, another being that spectators will literally boo you.
(edit: balance parens)
[0] http://m.tennis.com/photos-video/2015/05/videos-razzano-late... [1] http://m.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/gentlemans-disagreement...
Not quite. The only way NZ could tie. Although the whole thing was deeply traumatic at the time, the incident in fact was an absolute net win for NZ. Reason: In any dispute, irrespective of the details, we can simply reference underarm bowling and immediately claim the moral high ground whilst simultaneously making big brother squirm.
The reason for near universal opprobrium is that in cricket fair play is supposed to trump strict interpretation of the rules.
I do agree with you in one respect, I didn't like Brian McKechnie's reaction either. Much more classy to remain aloof. Alternatively I would have liked to see him pick up the ball, toss it up and attempt to clear the boundary with a free hit. Why not at that stage.
Incidentally, amazingly enough McKechnie was a central figure in another one of the great national sporting controversies of the 20th century in a different sport entirely. Particularly bizarre given that he was never much more than a journeyman in either sport (cricket and rugby). On that occasion we were on the wrong side of history, or sportsmanship anyway. Andy Haden dived out of a lineout in injury time against Wales, and McKechnie kicked the penalty to retain our long unbeaten streak against the Welsh. But that's another story.
Australians seem to want to forget about the whole episode, while kiwis seem to want to bring it up everytime they can. Far worse things have happened in cricket without them getting the same attention - for example the rebel tours of South Africa in the 1980s.
I agree, however, that what we are discussing is a matter of opinion.