Information about Ian Chappell

Ian Chappell
Australia
Personal information
Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling style	Right-arm Leg Break (LB)
Career statistics
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	75	16
Runs scored	5345	673
Batting average	42.42	48.07
100s/50s	14/26	0/8
Top score	196	86
Overs	478.5	7
Wickets	20	2
Bowling average	65.79	11.5
5 wickets in innings'''	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a
Best bowling	2/21	2/14
Catches/stumpings	105/0	5/0
As of 19 July, 2005 Source: |

Ian Michael Chappell (born September 26, 1943 at Unley, South Australia), is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before playing a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born into a cricketing family—his grandfather and brother also captained Australia—Chappell made a hesitant start in international cricket playing as a right-hand middle-order batsman and spin bowler. He found his niche when promoted to bat at first wicket down.

Known as “Bertie” and, later, as “Chappelli”, Chappell never lost a Test series as Australian captain, and earned a reputation as one of the greatest captains the game has seen.^[1][2][3][4] His blunt verbal manner led to a series of confrontations with opposition players and cricket administrators; the issue of sledging first arose during his tenure as captain and he was a driving force behind the professionalisation of Australian cricket in the 1970s.^[5]

John Arlott called him, “a cricketer of effect rather than the graces”.^[6] An animated presence on the field, he constantly adjusted his equipment and clothing, and restlessly tapped his bat on the ground as the bowler ran in. Basing his game on a sound defence learned during many hours of childhood lessons, Chappell employed the drive and square cut to full effect.^[5] He had an idiosyncratic method of playing back and across to a ball of full length and driving wide of mid on,^[7] but his signature shot was the hook. He was a brilliant slip field who was the fourth player to take one hundred Test catches.

Since his playing retirement, he has pursued a high-profile career as a sports journalist and cricket commentator, predominately with Channel Nine. He remains a major figure in Australian cricket: in 2006, Shane Warne called Chappell the biggest influence on his career.^[8]

Family and early career

The first of three sons born in Adelaide to Martin and Jeanne (nee Richardson), Chappell was steeped in the game from a very early age. His father was a noted Adelaide grade cricketer who put a bat in his hands as soon as he could walk, and his maternal grandfather was the famous all-round sportsman Vic Richardson, who captained Australia at the end of a nineteen-Test career.^[9] Chappell was given weekly batting lessons from the age of five, as were younger brothers Greg and Trevor, who both played for Australia.^[10] Chappell attended St Leonards primary school where he played his first competitive match at the age of seven and was selected for the South Australian state schoolboys.^[11] He was then enrolled at Prince Alfred College, a private secondary school noted for producing many Test cricketers, including the Australian captains Joe Darling and Clem Hill. His other sporting pursuits included Australian football and baseball: Chappell's performances for his state in the Claxton Shield won him All-Australian selection in 1964 and 1966 as a catcher.^[12] At the age of 18, his form in grade cricket for Glenelg led to a first-class debut for South Australia (SA) against Tasmania in early 1962. Chappell replaced West Indian Garry Sobers who was needed for a Test match in the Caribbean.^[13]

The aggressive style of Sobers and SA captain Les Favell heavily influenced Chappell during his formative years in major cricket.^[14] In 1962–63, Chappell made his initial first-class century against a New South Wales team led by Australian captain Richie Benaud. He spent the northern summer of 1963 as a professional in England's Lancashire League with Ramsbottom^[15] and played a single first-class match for Lancashire.

International career

In 1963–64, Chappell batted at number three for the first time, against Queensland at Brisbane, scoring 205 not out.^[16] He ended the season as the youngest member of the SA team that won the Sheffield Shield.^[17] A century against Victoria early the following season resulted in Chappell's selection for a one-off Test against Pakistan at Melbourne in December 1964. He made 11 and took four catches,^[18] but was dropped and did not return to the team until the fourth Ashes Test of 1965–66. Chappell supplemented his aggressive batting with brilliant fielding in the slips cordon, and he showed promise as a leg-spinner. At this point, the selectors and captain Bob Simpson considered him an all-rounder as he batted at number seven and bowled 26 (eight-ball) overs for the match.^[16]

He retained his place for the following Test, and for the tour to South Africa in the summer of 1966–67. Playing in a side defeated 1–3, Chappell found the going tough. His highest score in ten Test innings was 49, while his five wickets cost 59 runs each. On the advice of Simpson, he decided to cease playing the hook shot as it was often getting him out.^[19] In the first Test of 1967–68 against India, he failed twice batting in the middle order. Heading into the second Test at Melbourne, Chappell's place was in jeopardy, but he rode his luck to score 151. The innings contained five chances not taken by India.^[16] However, in the remainder of the series he scored only 46 runs in four innings so his selection for the 1968 tour of England was based as much on his potential as his form.

In England, Chappell rewarded the faith of the selectors by scoring the most first-class runs on tour (1,261, including 202 not out against Warwickshire) and leading the Australian Test aggregates with 348 runs (at 43.5 average).^[20] His top score was 81 in the fourth Test at Leeds. Wisden lauded his back-foot play and judged him to be the most difficult Australian player to dismiss.^[21] In a summer severely affected by rain, Australia drew the series and retained the Ashes.

Inconsistent form

A string of big scores during the 1968–69 season earned for Chappell the Australian Cricketer of the Year award.^[22] Against the touring West Indies, Chappell hit 177, 188 not out, 117, 180 and 165 before the New Year. Two of these centuries were made in the Tests, when Chappell's average for 548 runs was 68.5. Appointed vice-captain of the team, he was elevated to number three in the batting order, and became an occasional bowler.^[5]

Following up with a successful tour of India in late 1969, Chappell demonstrated great fluency against spin bowling by compiling Test innings of 138 at Delhi and 99 at Kolkata. His ability against both fast and slow bowling earned high praise,^[23] most famously from his skipper Bill Lawry. When the Australians arrived in South Africa from the sub-continent in early 1970, Lawry told the local media that Chappell was the best all-round batsman in the world. This assessment looked ridiculous at the end of the four Test series, when Chappell managed just 92 runs (at 11.5 average), with a top score of 34 as Australia lost 0–4.^[24]

It was on this tour that Chappell first clashed with cricket administrators over pay and conditions.^[16] So successful was the series against South Africa that the home authorities requested that an extra Test be scheduled, to which the Australian Board of Control agreed. Incensed that the players were not consulted about the change, Chappell led a group of his teammates in a demand for more money to play the proposed game. Eventually, after Chappell and his supporters refused to back down, the extra Test was cancelled.^[25]

Captaincy

At the start of the 1970–71 season, Chappell was appointed as SA captain when the long-serving Les Favell surprisingly retired. However, Chappell's main objective for the season was to maintain his place in the Test team. His younger brother Greg was scoring heavily at first-class level and made his debut in the second Test of the summer. Facing an experienced and hostile England attack, Chappell got a half-century in each of the first two Tests, but failed to go on to a big score while Greg Chappell scored 108 on his debut. Rain washed out the third Test. Chappell, temporarily promoted to open the batting, failed in the fourth Test as Australia lost. Another such performance could see him omitted from the team. In the fifth Test at Melbourne, he returned to number three and started nervously. Dropped on 0 and 14, Chappell found form and went to his maiden Ashes century (111 from 212 balls),^[26] which he followed up with 28 and 104 in the sixth Test.

The washed out Test had caused a change to the fixture and an unprecedented seventh Test was played at Sydney in February 1971.^[27] Trailing 0–1 in the series, Australia could still retain the Ashes by winning the last Test. Australia's performances were hampered by playing slow, defensive cricket. In a radical attempt to breathe some aggression into the team, the selectors sacked captain Bill Lawry and appointed Chappell in his stead.^[28] Although dismayed by the manner of Lawry's dismissed,^[29] Chappell responded with an attacking performance as captain. However, Australia lost a close match by 62 runs and forfeited the Ashes for the first time in 12 years. Chappell gained some consolation at the end of a dramatic season when he led SA to the Sheffield Shield, the team's first win for seven years.^[30]

A team in his own image

Australia lost an unofficial Test series 1–2 to a Rest of the World team that toured in 1971–72 as a replacement for the politically unacceptable South Africans. Chappell was the outstanding batsman of the summer, making four centuries in his 634 runs. He took the team to England in 1972 and was unlucky not to regain the Ashes in a rubber that ended 2–2. Greg Chappell emerged as a prolific batsman during the series, batting one place below his brother in the order. The siblings shared several crucial partnerships,^[6] most notably 201 at the Oval in the last Test when they became the first brothers to score centuries in the same Test innings.^[31]

In 1972–73, Australia had resounding victories against Pakistan (at home) and the West Indies (away). Chappell's leadership qualities stood out in a number of tight situations. He hit his highest Test score of 196 (from 243 balls) in the first Test against Pakistan at Adelaide. The tourists "appeared probable winners of the last two Tests on the second last day of each game", yet Chappell was able to lead the team to victory.^[32]

On indifferent pitches in the Caribbean, Chappell was the highest scoring batsman of the series with 542 runs (at 77.4 average). He hit 209 in a tour match against Barbados, two Test centuries and a "glorious"^[33] 97 on a poor pitch at Trinidad in the third Test, batting with an injured ankle. This set up a dramatic last day when the West Indies needed just 66 runs to win with six wickets in hand at lunch. The home team collapsed against an Australian attack inspired by a brief, positive talk from Chappell during the break. Chappell's team would be the last to leave the West Indies as winners for 22 years.

The ugly Australians

A six-Test series against New Zealand in 1973–74 on both sides of the Tasman brought more success and some records. In the drawn first Test at Wellington, the Chappells created Test history when they both scored a century in each innings, sharing partnerships of 264 and 86. The Australians surprised by losing to the Kiwis for the first time ever, in the second Test at Christchurch. During this match, Chappell was involved in a verbal confrontation with the leading New Zealand batsman, Glenn Turner.^[34] The Australians then played a very ill-tempered tour match at Dunedin, which didn't enhance the reputation of Chappell or his team, before winning the final Test at Auckland. On this tour, the behaviour of the team was often called in to question, with some journalists labelling them the "Ugly Australians".^[1] In 1976, Chappell wrote about his attitude to the opposition:

... although we didn't deliberately set out to be a 'bunch of bastards' when we walked on to the field, I'd much prefer any team I captained to be described like that than as 'a nice bunch of blokes on the field.' As captain of Australia my philosophy was simple: between 11.00am and 6.00pm there was no time to be a nice guy. I believed that on the field players should concentrate on giving their best to the team, to themselves and to winning; in other words, playing hard and fairly within the rules. To my mind, doing all that left no time for being a nice guy.^[35]

The Ashes regained and retirement

The highlight of Chappell's career was Australia's 4–1 win over England in 1974–75, which reclaimed the Ashes. Strengthened by the new fast bowling partnership of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the Australia team played hard, aggressive cricket and received criticism for the amount of short-pitched bowling that was employed.^[36] Chappell's best score was 90, on an "unreliable" pitch^[37] on the first day of the series, at Brisbane. He finished the six Tests with 387 runs at 35.18 average, and took 11 catches in the slips. The series attracted big crowds and record gate takings, which enabled Chappell to negotiate a bonus for the players from the ACB.^[38]

Within months, Chappell was back in England leading Australia in the inaugural World Cup.^[39] His dislike of the defensive nature of limited-over cricket led to the Australians placing a full slip cordon for the new ball and employing Test-match style tactics in the tournament.^[40] Despite the apparent unsuitability of this approach, Chappell guided the team to the final where they lost a memorable match to the West Indies.^[41]

The workload of the captaincy was telling on Chappell and the four-Test Ashes series that followed the World Cup dampened his appetite for the game.^[42] His form remained good, and in the last Test at the Oval, he scored 192 to set up what appeared to be certain victory. However, England managed to bat for almost 15 hours to grind out a draw and Chappell announced his resignation from the captaincy on the last day of the match.

Remaining available for Test cricket, he played in the 1975–76 series against the West Indies under the captaincy of his brother Greg. Australia avenged their loss in the World Cup final by winning 5–1 to claim the unofficial title as best team in the world. During the season, he incurred censure for his behaviour in a Sheffield Shield match and was warned not to continue wearing a pair of adidas boots with three stripes clearly visible. This breached the prevailing protocol of cricketers wearing all white.^[43] His best innings of the summer was 156 during Australia's only loss, at Perth in the second Test. Always prepared to take on the Caribbean fast bowlers with the hook shot, he finished with 449 runs in the series at an average of 44.9. In the course of the series, Chappell passed two significant milestones when he became the fourth Australian make 5,000 runs in Test cricket and the first player to hold one hundred Test catches for Australia.^[44]

The summer ended in controversy and triumph in the domestic competition. During a dispute with the SACA over team selection, he threatened a "strike" action by the SA team. After the matter was sorted out to his satisfaction, Chappell led the side to the Sheffield Shield title for the second time in his career and he shared the inaugural Sheffield Shield player of the season award with his brother Greg.^[45] At the end of the season, he retired from first-class cricket, aged only 32.

World Series Cricket and aftermath

In 1976, Chappell toured South Africa with Richie Benaud's International Wanderers team, released his autobiography Chappelli and was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.^[43] He was hired to spend the summer of 1976–77 as a guest professional in the Melbourne district competition, where he was paid more than he had been as Australian captain.^[5] During the season he was involved in a famous altercation with a young English all-rounder who was in Victoria on a cricketing scholarship, Ian Botham. Both men have put forward vastly different versions as to what happened during the physical confrontation in a Melbourne pub.^[46] The animosity between them continues and it was used as a marketing ploy by Channel Nine when Botham temporarily partnered Chappell as a television commentator during the 1998–99 season.^[47]

Rebel skipper

While playing in Melbourne, Chappell was approached to lead an Australian team in World Series Cricket (WSC), a break-away professional competition organised by Kerry Packer for Channel Nine. His presence was, " ... fundamental to the credibility of the enterprise".^[5] Chappell devised the list of Australian players to be signed, and was involved in the organisation and marketing of WSC.^[29] His central role in WSC was the result of, "years of personal disaffection with cricket officialdom",^[6] in particular Don Bradman. Recently, Chappell wrote:

While captaining Australia, I was approached on three separate occasions before WSC to play 'professional' cricket, and each time I advised the entrepreneurs to meet the appropriate cricket board because they controlled the grounds. On each occasion, the administrators sent the entrepreneurs packing and it quickly became clear they weren't interested in a better deal for the players.

That's why I say the players didn't stab the ACB in the back. The administrators had numerous opportunities to reach a compromise but displayed little interest in the welfare of the players. It wasn't really surprising then that more than 50 players from around the world signed lucrative WSC contracts and a revolution was born. About half of the WSC players were from Australia and this high ratio can, in part, be attributed to Bradman's tight-fisted approach to the ACB's money.^[38]

Chappell played two seasons (1977–78 and 1978–79) in Australia as captain of the WSC Australian XI, enhancing his reputation against high quality opposition as both batsman and captain. In early 1979, he led a tour to the West Indies where a very hard-fought series finished in a 1-1 result, which some considered his greatest captaincy achievement.

Return to Tests

Convinced to return to official cricket when WSC ended, Chappell resumed as captain of SA in 1979–80, a decision he later regretted.^[48] It was a season too far for the increasingly irascible Chappell. In a match against Tasmania, he was reported for swearing and suspended for three matches. He was controversially selected for Australia mid-season,^[49] and his Test career finished when he with scores of 75 and 26 not out at the MCG against England in February 1980. In his final first-class match, SA needed to beat Victoria to win the Sheffield Shield. Chappell scored 112 in a losing effort, but he was voted the competition's player of the season for a second time.^[50]

ODI record

Chappell’s aggressive approach suited limited-overs cricket: he scored his runs at a strike-rate of 77.^[6] Although the timing of his career limited him to 16 ODI matches, Chappell appeared in a number of historic games such as the first ODI (at the MCG in 1971),^[51] the first World Cup final (at Lord’s in 1975) and the first day/night match (during WSC, at VFL Park in 1978).^[52] He passed fifty in 50% of his innings with a top score of 86 at Christchurch in 1973–74. In his final season of international cricket, he scored 63 not out (from 65 balls) against the West Indies at the SCG to win the player of the match award; five days later he hit an unbeaten 60 from 50 balls in his penultimate ODI appearance, against England. As captain, he recorded six wins and five losses from 11 matches.

Captaincy statistics

Season	Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1970-1	England (home)	1	0	1	0
1972	England (away)	5	2	2	1
1972-73	Pakistan (home)	3	3	0	0
1972-73	West Indies (away)	5	3	0	2
1973-74	New Zealand (home)	3	2	0	1
1973-74	New Zealand (away)	3	1	1	1
1974-75	England (home)	6	4	1	1
1975	England (away)	4	1	0	3
	Official Tests	30	16	5	9
1971-72	Rest of World XI (home)	5	1	2	2
1977-78	WSC Supertests (home)	5	1	4	0
1978-79	WSC Supertests (home)	4	1	2	1
1979	WSC Supertests (West Indies)	5	1	1	3
	All Matches	49	20	14	15

Legacy

Wisden wrote, "Chappell will be remembered as much for his bid to improve the players' lot as he will for his run-getting and captaincy".^[43] During the WSC period, Chappell founded a players association with a loan provided by Kerry Packer. Despite Chappell's continued support after his retirement, apathy led to its' demise in 1988. Eventually, it was revived in 1997 as the Australian Cricketers' Association and has become an influential organisation in Australian cricket. In 2005, Chappell became a member of its' executive.^[53]

In July 2000, Chappell was inducted into the FICA Cricket Hall of Fame^[54] and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2003. The same year, two new grandstands at the Adelaide Oval were named after Ian and his brother Greg. At the dedication ceremony for the stands, the SACA president Ian McLachlan called the Chappells, "the most famous cricketing family in South Australia".^[55] In 2004, the Chappell family was again honoured with the creation of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, an annual series of ODI matches played between Australia and New Zealand.^[56]

Chappell is the leading advocate for greater formal recognition of the first Australian sporting team to travel overeas, the Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868.^[57]

Media career

Following the path of his grandfather Vic Richardson, who was a well known radio commentator for many years,^[9] Chappell pursued a media career, beginning in 1973 when he wrote magazine articles and for The Age.^[58] He did television commentatary for Network Ten and the BBC before playing WSC.^[59] During the 1980s, Chappell spent eight years hosting Wide World of Sport, an innovative magazine-style program broadcast by Channel Nine on Saturday afternoons. He also co-hosted a sister show, Sports Sunday, for five years.^[60] Early in his stint on the former program, he swore without realising he was live to air.^[59] During a live telecast of the 1993 Ashes series, a similar incident occurred.^[61] On both occasions, he was suspended by Channel Nine.

Leadership critiques

Chappell began working as a commentator for Channel Nine's cricket coverage in the 1980–81 season, a position he retains.^[60] The major controversy of his first season was the Underarm Incident, which involved his two younger brothers in an ODI played between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG. Chappell showed no fraternal bias and was vehement in his criticism of the tactic.^[59] He wrote in a newspaper column on the matter: "Fair dinkum, Greg, how much pride do you sacrifice to win $35,000?"^[62]

In the early 1980s, he supported the claims of Rod Marsh to the Australian captaincy over the incumbent, Kim Hughes. The constant campaign against Hughes, seen as a relic of the WSC era, destabilized his authority. Compounding the situation, the ACB compelled Hughes to be interviewed by Chappell on a regular basis. When Hughes resigned in 1984, throwing Australian cricket into turmoil, Chappell received a share of the blame for the problem.^[63]

Chappell had a direct influence on Hughes’ successor, Allan Border. Early in his captaincy tenure, Border was struggling with the burdens of the position so the ACB appointed Bob Simpson as team coach to assist in 1986.^[64] This led to animosity between Chappell and Simpson as Chappell derided the need for a coach. Simpson responded by writing that the peer influence of older players helping younger players fell away during the era when the Chappell brothers led the team, and he was redressing the problem.^[65] Chappell believed that the Border-Simpson leadership was too defensive and that Simpson usurped too much of Border's control of the team; Border heeded Chappell’s assessment and changed his approach later in his career. Mark Taylor, who captained the team after Border, moved to dilute Simpson's authority. Chappell remains a long-standing critic of the use of coaches by national teams.^[66]

Books and writings

Ashley Mallett's biography, Chappelli Speaks Out (published in the UK as Hitting Out — the Ian Chappell Story) was written in collaboration with Chappell and released in 2005. It caused controversy due to Chappell’s assessment of the recently-retired Steve Waugh, who was described as “selfish” and that as a captain he, “ran out of ideas very quickly”.^[67] Waugh responded by writing, “to say Chappell's criticism irked me would be an understatement.” He categorised the criticisms as "personal" and noted that Chappell, “always sweated on my blunders and reported them with an 'I told you so' mentality”.^[68]

His first book was an account of the 1972 Ashes tour, Tigers Among the Lions, followed by a series of books of cricketing humour and anecdotes published in the early 1980s. The more serious The Cutting Edge, an appraisal of modern cricket, appeared in 1992.^[5] In 2006, Chappell released an anthology of his cricket writings entitled A Golden Age.^[58]

Personal life

After leaving school, Chappell spent two years as a clerk in sharebroker's office, which he left to play league cricket in England. He then worked as a promotions representative for Nestle and the cigarette manufacturer WD & HO Wills. After eight years with Wills, Chappell capitalised on his fame as Australian captain by forming his own company specialising in advertising, promotion and journalism, which has remained his profession.^[69] He is twice married, and has a daughter (Amanda) with his first wife Kay. Chappell now lives in Sydney with second wife Barbara.

References

Notes

External link

• CricInfo Player Profile: Ian Chappell
• Ian Chappell interviewed on Enough Rope in 2006 (includes video)

Preceded by Bill Lawry	Australian Test cricket captains 1970/1-1975	Succeeded by Greg Chappell
Preceded by Bill Lawry	Australian One-day International cricket captains 1972-1975	Succeeded by Greg Chappell

•  • [ e] Australia squad - 1975 Cricket World Cup
	1 IM Chappell (c) • 2 GS Chappell • 3 Edwards • 4 Gilmour • 5 Lillee • 6 McCosker • 7 Mallett • 8 Marsh (wk) • 9 Thomson • 10 Turner • 11 Walker • 12 Walters

Persondata
NAME	Chappell, Ian Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 26, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Unley, South Australia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH