Ian Chappell

Cricket great and sports commentator

Ian Michael Chappell (born September 26, 1943 in Unley, South Australia) is a former Australian cricket player. He is a grandson of the famous Victor Richardson (after whom the main gates at the Adelaide Oval are named) and the eldest of three brothers, the others being Greg and Trevor.

Ian Chappell was on the board of directors for Com Tech (later Dimension Data Australia) for several years, a successful marketing exercise for the company.

After retirement from International and first class cricket Ian became a commentator. Australians hear him most often on Channel Nine during the International cricket telecasts. He also hosted the show Wide World of Sports with Mike Gibson during the 1980s (and was subsequently parodied by The 12th Man.

As for his cricket he is widely regarded as one of the most successful captains of the Australian Test team, with the team never losing a series during his captaincy. He is considered instrumental in the formation of the Kerry Packer endorsed World Series Cricket in the 1970s. Along with his brother Greg he was part of, and led, one of the most successful teams to grace the field. Though not many would agree that "grace" correctly describes the way they handled themselves, although Chappell himself strongly refutes the way the media labelled his sides "Ugly Australians".

Retiring from International cricket in 1980, Ian played 75 Tests and only 16 One-day Internationals. Debuting in 1964, his career spanned 17 years. He was named as one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 1976 and inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2003. (Credit: Wikipedia)

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