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Ian Chappell retires from commentary

ashley bach

Cricketer Of The Year
He could definitely be very annoying ( his act of trying to put himself in the captain's shoes constantly could get tiresome) but as the years went on and the likes of Benaud, Greig, Lawry etc. were replaced by blokes who didn't even bother to sound like they cared about cricket, it became harder to dislike him. Will be missed.

He had some very stubborn takes that always irritated me though, the main one being that any batsman who padded up deserved to be given out lbw even if the ball was missing the stumps.

LOL this is one of the worst LBW's given you'll ever see, if not the worst.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
IIRC he also pioneered, along with Richie I guess, the idea of not saying anything when someone is dismissed after a great knock and just let the TV viewers hear the applause. Its an underrated thing but it is the kind of thing that makes him one of the greats as far as cricket commentary is concerned, for me.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
IIRC he also pioneered, along with Richie I guess, the idea of not saying anything when someone is dismissed after a great knock and just let the TV viewers hear the applause. Its an underrated thing but it is the kind of thing that makes him one of the greats as far as cricket commentary is concerned, for me.
Yeah I liked that as a commentator he didn't feel the need to insert himself every second.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Quoting one of the great Ian Chappell stories as told be Fredfertang a number of years back....

In the autumn of 1979 I was sat in a pub in Lytham St Annes with a couple of mates. During the course of the evening Ian Chappell came in with an entourage and sat at the table next to us. I have to say that beyond recognising him when he walked in we wouldn't have noticed him although he may well have picked up on the fact that his presence set myself and my mates off talking about the Packer circus and everything flowing from that which was big news at the time.

It must have been before the 1979/80 tour because I am sure we would have made some comments had the Ashes just been won 4-1 by England!

Anyway in due course I had the call of nature and went to the gents and in the middle of what I was doing Chappell walked in. He stood next to me and his first action was to let rip an impressively loud and rasping fart followed very rapidly by an equally loud and rasping belch. He then looked at me and said "the beer in this place is f****** p***”

I didn't really know what to say to that and my first thought was to be a bit concerned that perhaps I had said something in the bar that may have offended him so I kept quiet. He started to chuckle and looked at me again and said "did you realise I was Ian Chappell". My immediate reaction to that, and one which I must confess I had already prepared in the lounge thinking that he might say something like that when he was sat next to us, was "No I thought you were John Snow's bunny".

At this he roared with laughter but I still thought discretion was the better part of valour and left and went back to my table. When he came back into the bar shortly afterwards he made for the bar and bought a pint each for myself and my mates which he brought over in excellent humour and told us the pints were because I'd given him a line for his after-dinner speaking. Whether he ever used it I have no idea

I suppose I should have tried to get some piece of signed memorabilia from him but unfortunately being a teenager I was just too overawed!
If he changes his mind and comes over and commentates over here next summer I'll buy him that pint I owe him - now I can't say fairer than that can I?
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Chappell backed Cummins, IMO rightly so, after all the others legends attacked him for not supporting Langer as coach.

Whether you liked him or not, Chappell was the least biased commentator I have come across. He wasn't the type to simply back Australia subtly or overtly.
Mmm I don't think he was in any way biased in terms of supporting Australia or not but he was very biased in terms of thinking that there was an objectively correct way to play cricket and - because of his own experiences as a player and captain - that naturally aligned with how Australia's best teams tend to play cricket. But if an opposition touring side came over and played in that manner, he would be the first to praise them even if they were playing against Australia.

Not that that's a bad thing IMO, even if I often viscerally disagreed with him. We need commentators who have actually thought and have clear ideas about how the game ought to be played rather than corporate drones.
 

NotMcKenzie

International Debutant
The only bit of his commentary I really remember was during the 2017/18 Ashes when an English bowler had had yet another delivery dispatched to the rope, he said mockingly, "That's what that man at deep backward square leg's out there for. He's to fetch the ball from the boundary."
 
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Burgey

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Chappell backed Cummins, IMO rightly so, after all the others legends attacked him for not supporting Langer as coach.

Whether you liked him or not, Chappell was the least biased commentator I have come across. He wasn't the type to simply back Australia subtly or overtly.
I think of all commentators who’ve been around for ages, chappell would be most likely to bac a captain over a coach on anything, principally as he believed so strongly that a team was the captain’s and theirs alone. He really hated the idea of coaches
 

Burgey

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What are some of his controversial takes? I thought he was the ****...no-nonsense and gritty. Won't see his like again for sure.
He was a lot more controversial as a player than a commentator imho.

Am a big fan of his advocacy for recognising the first indigenous Aus team to England as a national side.
 

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