Ian Chappell-tribute on 70 th birthday today

[Harsh Thakor]

Today on September 26th,2013 Ian Chappell is 70. No batsman in his era including Viv or Barry Richards championed a cause as well when the chips were down as Ian Chappell.He displayed the grit of a great military commander who ressurected the spirit of his batallion and turned defeat into victory as a player and captain.None could bring out the best in his player more than Ian,especially Dennis Lillee.Ian was the ultimate player to ressurect his team from the grave.Statistics do not do justice to Ian Chappel who averaged 50.84 at one down scoring 12 centuries and 4279 runs-the best one down batting average by an Australian since Bradman.Even modern greats like Rahul Dravid,Steve Waugh ,Jacques Kallis and earlier Javed Miandad or Alan Border could keep the scoreborad ticking as well as Ian.Morally Ian deserved an average of above 50.An average of 42.42 hardly did justice to Ian who was arguably ahead of brother Greg.Adding Kerry Packer statistics and games v Rest of the World Ian averaged over 44 runs and scored 18 centuries. In Kerry Packer world series cricket he overshadowed both brother Greg and Viv Richards in a crisis.Morally it was Ian Chappell's 449 run sin 1975-76 more than Greg Chappell's 702 runs that won the Frank Worrel trophy for Australia.The great West Indian pace quartet found Ian Chappell the most difficult opponent to bowl to.It was Ian who prepared brother Greg for captaincy before building up the equivalent of an empire in cricket.Ian led a renaissance in Australian cricket in England in 1972,taking Australian cricket to the top the world.He moulded a bunch of talented players into a champion unit.He displayed the ferocity of a tiger as a captain.He was tactically brilliant as a skipper reminding you of a great chess player making mastery moves.In 1979 Gary Sobers rated Ian Chappell as the best batsman in the world ,ahead of Viv and Barry Richards.Several opponents prized Ian's wicket more than brother Greg,who displayed the nerves of an iceberg. Ian's best batting performances came in series against West Indies at home in 1968-69(scored 4 centuries overall against the West Indies), in West Indies in 1973,in India in 1969-70 and against the Rest of the World in 1972.(scored 4 centuries averaging over 80 runs)As a skipper he was at his best in England in 1972,in West Indies in 1973(averaged 77.42)against England at home in 1974-75. and in West Indies in 1979 in Kerrry Packer world series cricket.His best innings were his 165 v West Indies at Brisbane in 1968-69,156 out of 328 in the 2nd test at Perth in 1975-76 v West Indies,141 v West Indies in the 3rd supertest ,192 at the Oval in 1975 and 196 v Pakistan at Adelaide in 1972-73. In a crisis even Tendulkar or Lara would not have overshadowed Ian Chappell.He was also a great one day International batsman,averaging around 48 runs.Ian would have won more games than Jacques Kallis or Rahul Dravid.Ian may have been rugged,lacking elegance of brother Greg or equal technical correctnes but still posessed a great flair for drives against pace and spin.Watching Ian against great pace was sight to behold as he tackled the short ball with great prowess.He also beautifully danced down to the spinners.Ian mastered turning and bouncy wickets.Against the bouncing ball or on fast track s he overshadowed brother Greg.No batsman niggled great opposing attacks as Ian who made the best of bowlers grind for their wickets.Ian was arguably the best player of pace bowling in his generation,better than brother Greg. Unfairly Ian Chappell has been obliterated from the 100 best cricketers selection by Cristopher Martin Jenkins and James Armstrong.Overall as a cricketer Ian was ahead of brother Greg and Ricky Ponting or Javed Miandad.Corrrectly John Woodcock places 1an at 57th place in his all-time list ahead of Miandad.Ian is one of the most underrated of batsman. Sadly he did not mantain the tradition of the great sportsmanship exhibited in cricket and was repeatedly abusing his opponents.As a commentator at times he was alos reckless or brash.Ian rated Gary Sobers as the best batsmen he ever saw and Andy Roberts the best bowler he faced.He never gave Ian Botham his fair due nor Jacques Kallis. Ian would arguably rank amongst the top 3 captains of all time and the 25 best batsman.I would place Ian amongst the 50 top cricketers of a ll,just a notch behind Frank Worrell.Without doubt he was the best skipper for Australia after Bradman.He was tactically sounder than Clive Lloyd,Imran Khan or Steve Waugh.I place Ian the 2nd best batsman after Rohan Kanhai to average below 50.Overall as a batsman he could well be the 2nd best Australian batsman after Bradman Edit/Delete Message

[Crookbond]

The other side of Ian Chappell

This tough exterior coloured how everyone perceived Chappelli, yet there was, and is, a softer, compassionate side to him. When Chuck Fleetwood-Smith was down on his luck, penniless, without a roof over his head, Chappelli came to his side. He lifted Neil Hawke's spirit when he was gravely ill in hospital, and he went to see my old mate Terry Jenner when TJ was suffering inner turmoil in prison. Former Test batsman Ross Edwards is one who has seen the softer side of Chappelli. Midway through the final Test of the 1975 Ashes, at The Oval, Edwards received a telegram informing him of the death of a close friend. Chappelli, who had seen the telegram, quietly went to his team-mate and said: "Rosco, if you prefer not to go back on to the field next session, it's okay by me."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/670449.html That's Chapelli for me - tough but fair.

[Forever Indian]

Very good analyst of the game and a mostly unbiased commentator