Greg Chappell: Fierce Focus

305 Pages·2012·17.68 MB·English

by  Malcolm Knox

FIERCE
FOCUS

Published in 2011 by Hardie Grant Books
Hardie Grant Books
Ground Floor, Building 1
658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121
www.hardiegrant.com.au
Hardie Grant Books (UK)
Dudley House, North Suite
34–35 Southampton Street
London WC2E 7HF
www.hardiegrant.co.uk
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders. The moral right of the author
has been asserted.
Copyright © Greg Chappell 2011
Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available from
the National Library of Australia.
Fierce focus
EISBN 978 1 74273 699 0
Cover design by Design by Committee
Cover photographs Getty Images
Typesetting by Kirby Jones
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Martin and Jeanne for starting the innings, to
Lynn Fuller and Chester Bennett for preparing
the way and to Judy for the best and most
enduring partnership of them all.
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT PAGE
INTRODUCTION
one PROLOGUE
two THE HOTBED
three MY TEST CAREER FOR ENGLAND
four A CRICKETING HERITAGE
five RAISING THE BAR
six BIG CRICKET
seven A PROFESSION?
eight GETTING CLOSER
nine TRIED, TESTED
ten THE WATERSHED
eleven THE REVIVAL TOUR
twelve INTO MY GROOVE
thirteen CALYPSO SURPRISE
fourteen A MORE SOLID STATE
fifteen TONS AND TROUBLE
sixteen IF THOMMO DOESN’T GET YOU, LILLEE MUST
seventeen ANOTHER CHAPPELL
eighteen THE TOP JOB
nineteen GOING UNOFFICIAL
twenty THE TURNING
twenty-one THE BIG MOMENT
twenty-two THE TOUGHEST TOUR
twenty-three A NEW WORLD
twenty-four AFTER DARK
twenty-five THE UNEASY PEACE
twenty-six EXPANDED HORIZONS
twenty-seven THE BREWING STORM
twenty-eight ONE DAY
twenty-nine STEPPING BACK
thirty THE OUTS
thirty-one UNFINISHED BUSINESS
thirty-two EASING OUT
thirty-three OUTSIDE THE PICKETS
thirty-four THE IRRESISTIBLE LURE
thirty-five SOURAV AND ME
thirty-six A NEW HOPE
thirty-seven INTO CHAOS
thirty-eight BACK IN THE FOLD
INTRODUCTION
BY DARSHAK MEHTA
‘Tum kitna Test Khela?’ (‘How many Test Matches have you played?’) was a
catchcry in Indian cricket circles when coaches who hadn’t played much
Test cricket or who weren’t respected by players were openly derided by some
former Indian Test cricketers. In the case of Greg Chappell, his pedigree as an
all-time great of the game and an Australian captain could never be questioned,
so when he became India’s coach in 2005 there could be no doubting his
credentials.
In the pantheon of Australian cricket, Greg Chappell’s name is spoken in
reverential tones and, among the cricketers of the past 40 years, he keeps
extremely elite company: only Lillee, Border, Steve Waugh, Ponting, Warne,
McGrath and Gilchrist are in the same echelon as Greg. These are the modern
legends of our game.
The elegance of his strokeplay was matched by his extraordinary timing. He
rarely appeared to hit the ball; he caressed it away, often disdainfully. For years,
I tried to imitate his imperious on-drive in my misspent youth in the suburbs of
Bombay, often to make contact with empty air and hear the dreaded death rattle!
The ungodly morning alarms to wake up in tingling anticipation of watching (or
hearing the likes of Alan McGilvray and Lindsay Hassett describe) a great knock
from Greg were well worth braving mosquito bites for.
Most observers also rate him highly (along with Mark Waugh, Neil Harvey
and Ricky Ponting) as one of the best fielders Australia has produced. His
brother Ian reckons that Greg was possibly the grumpiest bowler of all time. His
record will survive the most vigorous scrutiny. Not one contemporary batsman I
can think of could have averaged over 56 against a diarrhoea-inducing West
Indian fast bowling attack of the quality of Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner,
as Greg did over the 14 World Series Cricket Super Tests. Michael Holding told
me that he rated Greg alongside Border and Ian Chappell as the three great
Australian players of fast bowling of his generation.
But it is the man behind the dry façade that is the mystery and is often
misunderstood. I have had the good fortune of knowing Greg reasonably well
and it never ceases to amaze me that the public could have such a different (and,
uninformed) opinion of him from the one I hold, perhaps because of the way he
is portrayed in the media. Outwardly, he appears calm and assured, and carries
himself with dignity. Some people mistake that for arrogance. But, I assure you
there is turmoil; he is a sensitive soul and he hurts as easily as you and I. His
story in these pages might explain some of his reserve.
Greg is highly intelligent, quick to embrace innovative concepts, technology,
new-age thinking and beliefs. It shows his endearing openness and inquisitive
nature. I remember reading with the greatest admiration some avant garde ideas
Greg espoused in the late 1990s when he ran a highly technical cricket website
called ‘The Chappell Way’. It was nothing short of revolutionary and an
amazing resource on the internet for any cricketing devotee interested in
technique or selfimprovement. And, free!
In 2005 Greg was not just a breath of fresh air but a cyclone that blew into
Indian cricket and then blew out, spent, two years later. Some in Indian cricket
accused Greg of causing damage, but in my opinion it was mainly to egos.
He articulated a radical vision, advocated great ideas and generally tackled
his job with zeal and skill, with the aim of preparing Indian cricket for a life
without its proven superstars. Predictably, those who were most challenged were
the ones who got him (or got to him!) in the end.
Modernising Indian cricket so quickly was too much for one man to
accomplish and there was insufficient leadership to support him. I’m not sure his
critics understood what he was attempting to do, nor appreciated the
considerable resistance to change he encountered.
Could Greg have done things differently? Of course, he would. He is brutally
honest and he will be the first one to admit that he made mistakes. Don’t we all?
However, Greg’s achievements in his all-too-brief spell were unheralded.
He was almost single-handedly responsible for the promotion of India’s most
talented youngsters; most of his blue-eyed boys would later blossom into good
international cricketers.
Greg has an eye like a dead fish for spotting talent and he broke the habit of
picking cricketers from the large cities. Never were so many from non-
traditional cricket backgrounds given a chance on the big stage. This opportunity
has been seized by the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R.P.
Singh, S. Sreesanth and more importantly given hope to millions born in the
wrong caste, city, town, village, religion or side of the tracks. Greg’s