During the first Test he was struck in the face by a delivery from Andy Roberts and required stitches. When World Series Cricket ended in 1979, Chappell moved to Sydney and started playing for the club Gordon. He started off the season with 55 for a Rick McCosker XI against a Ross Edwards XI in a trial game. This ensured his selection in the New South Wales side for the first Sheffield Shield match that summer, meaning Chappell had now played for three states. He was preferred to non-WSC-aligned batsman John Dyson, which caused some controversy at the time. Chappell was under pressure to justify his selection but responded with 150 against West Australia, helping New South Wales win. He later scored 144 against Tasmania 76 not out against Queensland and 80 against the touring English. Chappell started to bowl more, and his fielding by now was amongst the best in the country; he began to be discussed as an international prospect. At the beginning of the 1980–81 summer, Chappell's bowling spell of 3–22 helped NSW defeat Queensland. In November, Chappell was selected in the Australian one-day side against New Zealand. Australia lost the game. Chappell managed only 12 runs and took 0–21 with the ball. He did not bat or bowl in his second game. Chappell was kept in the team to play India, taking 1–14 and scoring 14. His figures for his next game were 0–27 and 6, then 1–40, 2–42, 1–21, 14 and 14. Chappell did not particularly impress with the bat that summer but his bowling and fielding were useful. Chappell's early season Sheffield Shield form was poor but he recovered to score 111 against Queensland. He was then selected to play in the Australian side for the third test against New Zealand, replacing Shaun Graf as 12th man. He had to make way for the next test when Graf returned from injury. He was dropped from the one-day side to make way for Jim Higgs, but soon returned. He managed to keep his place in the squad for the finals. In the second final Chappell took 2–21. He is most remembered for what happened in the third final. Chappell became infamous after bowling an underarm delivery when playing for Australia during a match against New Zealand in 1981. The teams were contesting the third final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. New Zealand needed to score six runs to tie the match.