Aussie cricket great who used to be one of the biggest names on Aussie TV makes a rare appearance – and he looks VERY different
- Ian Chappell discussed England’s defeat by Pakistan
- Starred in the Wide World of Sports’ Outside the Rope panel show
Australian cricket legend Ian Chappell made a rare studio appearance this week as he discussed England’s ‘nonsense’ batting approach in their recent series defeat to Pakistan – and many viewers would have noticed he looks very different compared to his days on Channel Nine.
Chatting with former Australian skipper Mark Taylor and sports commentator Mat Thompson about Wide World of Sports’ Outside the rope, the man affectionately known as ‘Chappelli’ – who is 81 – outlined where England went wrong.
‘Have I ever seen spin bowling played worse than England? Probably never,” he said.
‘England was hopeless.’
Chappell wasn’t done yet, labeling Brendon McCullum – after whom the aggressive hitting philosophy ‘Bazball’ is named – as a “stupid coach.”
It followed the Kiwi encouraging the England batters to reverse the sweep at every opportunity, which proved damaging.
Former Aussie captain Chappell – who scored more than 5300 Test runs in his career – was a talking point in June last year after appearing on Channel 9 The longest feud alongside bitter rival Ian Botham, who is arguably England’s greatest ever cricketer.
In the sports documentary you could have cut the tension with a knife, with both men accusing each other of lying.
Some viewers might have noticed that ‘Chappelli’ has aged considerably in recent years
The former Australian captain (pictured at The Oval in London in 1979) scored more than 5,300 Test runs in his career
Chappell (pictured interviewing Allan Border) started working as a commentator for Channel Nine’s cricket coverage in the 1980-81 season – and became an icon
Chappell has long maintained that Botham once threatened him with a beer glass at Melbourne’s Hilton Hotel in 1977 after throwing him over a table – an accusation ‘Beefy’ says is ‘bulls**t’.
When Chappell branded Botham on camera “a bully and a coward,” the level of hostility ratcheted up a notch in the astonishing altercation.
Ironically, one of cricket’s most infamous and long-lasting rivalries did not originate primarily on the field.
In fact, the duo faced each other only twice in Test matches as Australia won 3-0 against England in 1979-80, in hastily arranged series as part of the settlement between World Series Cricket and the Australian Cricket Board.
Botham finished with 154 runs at 51.30 and eight wickets, while Chappell scored 152 runs at 50.70 in a series where The Ashes were not at stake due to Australia’s cricket war with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.
Earlier this year, Chappell stated that modern players must simply follow the laws of the sport.
It followed a ‘spirit of cricket’ row following incidents at the Under-19 World Cup and a Sheffield Shield match when NSW Blues star Chris Green was batting.