After a celebrated commentary career spanning 45 years, Ian Chappell has decided to put down his mic. Here are his retirement details.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

Personal information
Full name Ian Michael Chappell
Born 26 September 1943 (age 78)
Unley, South Australia, Australia
Nickname Chappelli
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right-arm leg spin
Role Top-order batsman

Born into a cricketing family—his grandfather and brother also captained Australia—Chappell made a hesitant start to international cricket playing as a right-hand middle-order batsman and spin bowler.

He found his niche when promoted to bat at number three. Known as “Chappelli”, he earned a reputation as one of the greatest captains the game has seen.

Chappell’s 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.

Ian Chappell Retires

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has announced retirement from commentary after a 45-year-long career with the mic.

Chappell, while speaking to Sydney Morning Herald, said he had been thinking about retiring from commentary ever since suffering a minor stroke a few years back.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

The 78-year-old cited health issues as the reason behind his decision to retire from commentary, which he had been doing since the 1980s.

Chappell entered the commentary business after his retirement from cricket in 1980. He started his first job as a commentator with Channel Nine, which held the right to broadcast Australian home cricket games for a very long time before they eventually went to Channel 7.

News

The 78-year-old Chappell, who is widely admired for his views on cricket, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he had been thinking about calling time on commentary for a while.

“I remember the day when I knew I’d had enough of playing cricket,” Chappell said. “I looked at the clock and it was five past 11 on a day of play and I thought, ‘S**t, if you’re clock-watching at that time, I have to go’.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

“So when it comes to commentary, I’ve been thinking about it. I had a minor stroke a few years back and I got off lucky. But it just makes everything harder. And I just thought with all the travel and, you know, walking upstairs and things like that, it’s all just going to get harder.

“Then I read what Rabbits [legendary rugby league commentator Ray Warren] said with retirement and it really struck home when I read the bit where he said, ‘you’re always one sentence closer to making a mistake’.”

Chappell entered the world of commentary towards the end of his playing career. He became part of a team of distinctive voices alongside Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Tony Greig.

Commentary 

Chappell had decided to do commentary after retiring from international cricket. He had played 75 Tests for Australia, out of which 30 were as captain. Chappell had been a part of decorated Channel Nine broadcast team comprising Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Tony Greig.

“Kerry [Packer, the media mogul who owned Channel Nine] wanted to sack me a couple of times.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

He used to get the s***s about one-day cricket, because that was his baby. And I might have said something about one-day cricket. With Kerry it was just like a storm – you’d let it blow over till the next one came,” said Chappell.

“It’s up to other people to decide what they think of me and some will think I’ve been all right. Some will think I’ve been a pr**k. That doesn’t bother me one bit,” he added.

Stats

In 1963–64, Chappell batted at number three for SA for the first time, in a match against Queensland at Brisbane, and scored 205 not out.

Ian Chappell : Retires | News | Commentary | Stats

Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 75 16 262 37
Runs scored 5,345 673 19,680 1,277
Batting average 42.42 48.07 48.35 39.90
100s/50s 14/26 0/8 59/96 0/13
Top score 196 86 209 93*
Balls bowled 2,873 42 13,143 202
Wickets 20 2 176 5
Bowling average 65.80 11.50 37.57 28.40
5 wickets in innings 0 0 2 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 2/21 2/14 5/29 2/14
Catches/stumpings 105/– 5/– 312/1 20/–

He was the youngest member of the SA team that won the Sheffield Shield that season.

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, but was dropped until the Fourth Test in the 1965–66 Ashes series.

Chappell supplemented his aggressive batting with brilliant fielding in the slips, and he showed promise as a leg-spinner.

At this point, the selectors and captain Bob Simpson considered him an all-rounder: he batted at number seven and bowled 26 (eight-ball) overs for the match.

By Rishabh

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